Norway’s football federation president, Lise Klaveness, has called for the discontinuation of the FIFA Peace Prize, arguing that the global governing body for football should not be in the business of recognising world leaders.
She made the remarks during a press briefing on Monday.
“We want to see (the FIFA Peace Prize) abolished,” the Athletic quoted Klaveness as saying to a group of sports journalists.
“We don’t think it’s part of FIFA’s mandate to give such a prize. We think we have a Nobel institute that does that job independently already,” she added.
She further stressed the need for football organisations to maintain distance from political authorities, warning against situations that could blur that separation.
“We think it’s important for football federations, confederations and FIFA to try and avoid situations where this arm’s length distance to state leaders is challenged,” she said, adding that “[t]hese prizes will typically be very political if you don’t have really good instruments and experience to make this independent.”
Highlighting governance and resource concerns, Klaveness questioned FIFA’s capacity to administer such an award effectively.
“To have a jury and criteria is full-time work. It’s so sensitive. From a resource angle and from a mandate angle, but most importantly, from a governance angle, I think it should be avoided also in the future.”
Klaveness is no stranger to controversy. In September 2025, she suggested that UEFA should suspend Israel, drawing comparisons with Russia’s exclusion.
“Personally, I believe that since Russia is out, Israel should also be out. As a football president you can have personal opinions, and I certainly have mine,” Klaveness said to a Norwegian podcast then.
FIFA introduced the Peace Prize in December 2025, awarding the inaugural honour to U.S. President Donald Trump. The organisation said the award aimed at “reward[ing] individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world.”
The initiative, championed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, drew criticism from several quarters, with detractors describing it as overly political and questioning the selection of Trump, particularly in the absence of a transparent nomination process. Some analysts also interpreted the move as an attempt to appease Trump after he failed to secure a Nobel Peace Prize.
Klaveness made her latest remarks just days ahead of the 2026 FIFA Congress scheduled to take place in Vancouver, Canada, where representatives from member associations will convene to determine, among other decisions, the host nation for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
