Norway Files Ethics Complaints Against FIFA President Infantino, Alleging Abuse of Power and Conflicts of Interest

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) has lodged formal complaints against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, asking two separate FIFA committees to investigate whether the embattled Swiss official has committed potential abuses of power and conflicts of interest. The filings, submitted on Tuesday, represent a significant escalation in the mounting pressure on Infantino, who has faced growing criticism from national federations and continental confederations alike.

According to details of the complaints, the first filing formally requests FIFA's Ethics Committee to scrutinize Infantino's conduct, along with that of any other individuals who may be identified during the course of an investigation, for possible violations of FIFA's Code of Ethics. The second complaint is directed at FIFA's Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC), and it poses a broader question: whether the organization's governance structures, financial oversight mechanisms, internal controls, and decision-making processes have functioned as they were intended to.

Lise Klaveness, the outspoken president of the Norwegian Football Federation and a longstanding critic of Infantino, explained that a common thread links the three distinct issues at the heart of the complaints. Speaking to British media, she identified that thread as US President Donald Trump. Klaveness pointed specifically to the involvement of Josh Kushner, the brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose venture capital firm was positioned to become the chief investor in the now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.

The FFE initiative was launched by Infantino shortly after this summer's World Cup, which was cohosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States and widely regarded as a major success. The plan would have permitted private investors to purchase stakes in a company established under the FIFA Forward Enterprise framework. However, the proposal triggered an immediate and fierce backlash, prompting Infantino to make what was described as a humiliating climbdown within just a matter of days.

Klaveness characterized the FFE matter as fundamentally a governance issue, but stressed that it is intertwined with the other two cases because of potential conflicts of interest and abuse of position. She told a British newspaper that a clear line connects all three cases, and that this line runs through what she described as the same political regime. Klaveness, a former international footballer herself, added that Infantino has serious questions to answer regarding a lack of transparency.

A separate controversy involved the red card issued to Balogun during a last-32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup. The dismissal carried an automatic suspension that would have ruled him out of the match against Belgium. FIFA intervened to suspend the ban, a decision that drew widespread condemnation, particularly after it emerged that Trump had personally intervened by telephoning Infantino. Additionally, the FIFA Peace Prize that Infantino presented to Trump in December has been broadly criticized.

Summarizing the NFF's position, Klaveness said the three cases are factually very different from one another, yet they share something in common that the federation wants examined. She posed a series of pointed questions: whether the conduct amounts to an abuse of power or an abuse of position, whether it constitutes a breach of political neutrality, and whether it complies with governance rules. She emphasized that the FIFA Council is supposed to serve as the strategic body, and that the president should not truly possess unilateral power.

The complaints follow a series of moves by Klaveness against Infantino. In August, she publicly called on him to resign and to abandon his bid for a fourth and final term as president. The 45-year-old Norwegian has stated she will not stand as a candidate herself, even though some observers, including Infantino's predecessor Sepp Blatter, have suggested she would be well suited to lead FIFA.

Infantino, a 56-year-old Swiss national who was first elected in 2016, has insisted he will seek re-election at a congress in Rabat next March. To secure another term, he must obtain a majority of the 211 votes cast by FIFA's member associations. So far, no other candidate has formally declared an intention to run, and the deadline for declarations is November 18. Aleksander Ceferin, president of European football's governing body UEFA, has said he is not interested in the position.

The most likely challenger is believed to be Victor Montagliani, the Canadian president of CONCACAF. His organization has joined forces with UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to form an anti-Infantino alliance. While a significant number of UEFA's member associations have publicly withdrawn their support for Infantino, some AFC members—including Saudi Arabia, host of the 2034 World Cup, and Qatar, which hosted the 2022 tournament—have pledged their continued loyalty to him.

Support for Infantino also persists elsewhere. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and South America's CONMEBOL have both expressed backing for the incumbent president, suggesting that the battle for the presidency could divide along regional lines. UEFA has been particularly aggressive in its criticism, dismissing the FFE plan as a shady and opaque backroom deal.

The dispute has also moved into the legal arena. UEFA has filed a request with a court in Florida seeking access to documents related to Infantino's failed investment plan, aiming to gather evidence that could support a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where both UEFA and FIFA maintain their headquarters. FIFA responded by accusing UEFA of conducting a misinformation campaign and attempting to influence the outcome of the upcoming election.

The NFF's complaints now place the question of Infantino's conduct squarely before FIFA's own internal oversight bodies. Whether the Ethics Committee and the Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee will pursue investigations—and how thoroughly they might do so—remains an open question. For critics of the FIFA president, the filings represent an attempt to force institutional accountability at a time when the organization's leadership and direction are already the subject of intense global scrutiny.