You want to change FIFA and Qatar and don’t care if there is a bad mood.
Liz Clavins, 41, stood on the podium and awarded FIFA’s Pampers six minutes with carefully selected words.
The Norwegian Football Association chief tells Sportbladet, among other things, how you look at the reactions after the speech, plans for Sweden’s camp in Qatar, and what should change ahead of the World Cup.
Being impossible or difficult does not change the fact that we have an obligation to do all we can, says Liz Clavins.
Norway trains at the Enebybergs IP perfect stadium ahead of its Nations League match against Sweden.
A large crowd of children and young people of different ages gathered by the playing field, but a sigh of disappointment crossed the group that was crowded outside the player’s bus.
Neither Erling Braut Haaland nor Martin Odegaard train on Friday and with the two stars still in the hotel gym, it is likely that Norway’s latest football file will be on the sidelines.
It is a beautiful lawn and a quiet place to train. She’s absolutely perfect, Liz Clavins tells Sportbladet.
The 41-year-old president of the Norwegian Football Association is thriving near the stadium.
It is very good to go back to the grass and follow the training. I’ve been an athletic director before, so it’s nice to be close to the team, she says.
Klaveness about attention-grabbing speech
Liz Clavins’ name was on the footballing world’s lips at the end of March when the group match for the 2022 World Cup was held.
All the member countries of FIFA (International Football Association) gathered at a conference in the host country Qatar when Clavins took the podium and delivered a six-minute speech. The speech criticized FIFA and the process that gave the World Cup to Qatar – a country in which nearly 7,000 people are said to have died during the construction of World Cup arenas.
Migrant workers who injure themselves and the families of the deceased must be taken care of. In the speech, which was praised by human rights group Amnesty International, she said, among other things, that FIFA had to do something to really implement the change.
However, other people were not impressed.
The next FIFA conference speaker, José Ernesto Mejia, Secretary General of the Honduran Football Association, said the conference was the “wrong forum” to address the problems of Qatar and FIFA.
Then Qatar World Cup director Hassan Al Thawadi urged Liz Clavins to “educate herself” and she herself felt the rings on the water after the speech.
– There was a lot of feedback. Of course, first of all from Europe but also from South America and Africa, among other places, in fact, says Clavins.
– Of course, I felt very strongly that it was an arena where it was not in common and there was a lot of opposition to this issue that was raised.
She believes that José Ernesto Mejía’s critical comment after the speech was consistent with the discussion she wanted.
That someone says no is part of democracy so I think it’s totally okay. Good. We know there is resistance. Then one wishes for a dynamic debate where those who agree take the floor.
‘We have an obligation’
Klaveness continues to talk about reactions after the speech.
– Most of the people who contacted me directly said that it is very important that this be said at the conference. Then there are many who said that it was wrong to bring it up at a conference and that we should take the opportunity to mix politics with football and activism with football.
– It’s been a big topic since March for me and our union. We believe change must happen. It is important to protect the players from this, but at the same time, we leaders must be courageous and clear on these issues. So we drive.
What do you think is the most important thing that can be said about the Qatar World Cup?
– She has two faces. One is to work until it does not happen again. We’ll work so hard with this tournament that we’ll fine-tune the democratic engine so we don’t end up in a situation where it happens again.
When we see how international football develops, we see that we will end up in this situation again. What shall we do then? How should we in the Nordic countries work together? How should Western Europe secure Northern and Western values about democracy, the status of women, and basic human rights? It will be a very important battle in the future.
Clavins, a former national team player and coached attorney, talks about the second point she considers important.
It is very tangible in Qatar now that we will use all the time and all the tools available to secure the necessary changes there. So we can live with the fact that there’s a championship out there.
It works on three tracks to bring about change in Qatar. Part is a migrant center for guest workers in the country and part is a compensation fund for people affected by human rights abuses.
The third point is the rights of LGBT people during and after the World Cup.
– It is very difficult, and certainly absolutely impossible to achieve to the fullest. But the fact that it is impossible or difficult does not change the fact that we are obligated to do all we can. Football is global and everyone should be welcomed to the tournament.
“We work closely with Sweden”
Liz Clavens says the Norwegian Football Association will continue to try to bring about changes, even if it means it will not be very popular with FIFA.
You also think Sweden and other Nordic countries run on the same train, despite the fact that Sweden is planning to set up a training camp in Qatar in late January.
– They themselves understood that it was a mistake. Clavins says they pulled it off too quickly and it was true.
We work closely with Sweden and other Nordic countries in a group that existed even before I took office. Sweden, Denmark and other countries have had a great influence. I can talk about it openly, loudly and clearly in the democratic arena and it was important in and of itself to make a difference.
– We’ll see how we go further, the Scandinavian cooperation is very important for us to have a platform to stand on the international level.