"There is no doubt that the letter is perceived as problematic when it comes from a member association." Lise Klaveness said it herself — and sent it anyway.
The Norwegian Football Federation president confirmed Tuesday that Norway has formally backed a FIFA ethics complaint filed by human rights group FairSquare in December, targeting Gianni Infantino and FIFA's leadership over the Peace Prize awarded to Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C. The complaint alleges a clear breach of FIFA's own code of ethics, which mandates political neutrality. The ask is simple: open an investigation into how the prize came to exist at all.
What the complaint actually says
FairSquare's case isn't just about optics. FIFA's code of ethics explicitly prohibits political alignment. Infantino didn't just award Trump a prize — he publicly backed Trump's Nobel Peace Prize nomination alongside Republican politicians, two months before the FIFA draw handed him its own inaugural award. The complaint argues that's not neutrality. That's campaigning.
It fits a pattern. Infantino has maintained close ties with the governments of Russia, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia — all World Cup hosts — and frames those relationships as operationally necessary. Whether that argument holds up under an ethics investigation is exactly what Norway wants tested.
Klaveness said the NFF sent the letter alone, despite support from other federations privately. She publicly called for the FIFA Peace Prize to be scrapped back in April. She also joined UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin in walking out of the 2025 FIFA Congress after Infantino delayed it to accompany Trump on a trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. This letter isn't a spontaneous protest — it's the latest move in a coordinated, sustained pushback.
Norway head into Group of Death with this hanging over them
The timing matters. Norway open their World Cup campaign against Iraq in Foxborough on June 16, in a group that also contains France and Senegal. Klaveness is already flagging post-tournament follow-up: meetings, pressure, momentum-building. The complaint isn't going away quietly.
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment. That silence, at this point, speaks for itself.
