April 5 – Lise Klaveness has vowed to campaign again and champion women in the game after her bid to get a seat on the executive committee of UEFA failed. The Norwegian FA president collected just 18 votes in Wednesday’s elections.
“To be honest, I always knew it would be very difficult,” reflected Klaveness on the sidelines of the UEFA Congress.
“When I talked to my team I thought it would be around 20 votes. We have worked day and night. This has not just been about getting a position. I want influence. So we got that through this campaign. We want to talk to girls, boys, and fans. They don’t vote for me, but I want to hear what’s important for them, what they look for in a representative in terms of values so that I can be an accessible leader.”
Klaveness did not stand for the seat reserved for women for which Laura McAllister of Wales was elected unopposed. It was a deliberate choice, but one that was always going to complicate her campaign.
“We knew that this strategy would maybe cost us some votes, but it was a conscious strategy to make the room bigger,” said Klaveness.
“We are still at zero female presidents. It was important to be clear about why should you vote for me, to be outspoken about my values and then hopefully in two years people will see that these are not just words. We also want to take responsibility and walk the talk.”
England, Germany, and Sweden were among the associations that supported Klaveness, but with 18 votes she fell well short. Andriy Pavelko of Ukraine was the seventh and last member to get elected with 31 votes, keeping his seat for another four-year term. While voting for a Ukrainian resonated with the European electorate, there were questions of eligibility over Pavelko’s candidacy. Last November, the Ukrainian was arrested in Kyiv, suspected of embezzlement and suspended in his own country. With Denmark’s Jesper Moller running again, the vote for Nordic candidates was also split.
“We have to come out of this corner where we talk about this is a margin sport for women,” said Klaveness.
“It’s the biggest sport in the world for girls and women. This is what most girls prefer to do. But we have a system where it’s very difficult and a system where qualified women are not so many either. Why would you spend your life having all these conversations I’ve had the last year?”
Once a national team player, the Norwegian FA president believes women’s football should not be a political tool.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said that his confederation may consider creating a second seat on the executive committee reserved for women. Klaveness insisted on congratulating her rivals who won seats, but on the eve of UEFA’s 70th birthday, the organisation remains a male bastion.
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