Lise Klaveness: 'Development should be central to every decision'
Friday, June 12, 2026
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A 73-time international as a player, Lise Klaveness is now shaping the future of the game as Football Association of Norway (NFF) president and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee.
Klaveness combined her playing days with a successful legal career, later working as an assistant judge in the Oslo district court. She returned to the game as a TV pundit and served as NFF technical director for four years before her election as president in 2022.
In this exclusive interview, she reflects on the journey and how, with a UEFA Women's Champions League final in Oslo under the belt, and a first men's FIFA World Cup adventure in 28 years about to begin, 2026 is a huge year for Norwegian football.
Lise, can you tell us how you first fell in love with football, and your early experiences in the game?
I started playing quite late, aged around eleven, at school. My father told me that if I wanted to become good at football, I should be able to juggle the ball 100 times, so that summer I spent hours and hours learning to do that and improving, just to impress and earn the pride of my dad.
Eventually, I became very good at it and would take my orange ball everywhere, but even joining a team, really getting to understand the team and then reaching the national youth team, came after that.
Then, I wanted to proceed into an elite football school but was told the opportunity was only available to boys, and so I made calls to the equality minister and the municipality to push for more opportunities for myself and other girls. That experience has always stuck with me.
While playing as a Norway international, you also developed a successful legal career – how hard was it to balance professional life with your passion?
There was never a doubt in my mind that football was my priority. I never missed a practice, and even at national team training camps, other players would be resting after training, and I would be speaking on the phone to clients.
School and study came easier to me than the football, I always had good grades, so that meant I could devote more time to training, and I had a lot of energy. Nobody trained harder than me!
I loved being able to do both and being a lawyer had always been an ambition before football felt like a possibility. I was obsessed with inequality and always watched LA Law, a US TV series, every week.
I also think it gave me an advantage when I retired from playing, because I had another career already, which other players couldn’t always turn to when they finished. That's why programmes like the UEFA MIP are important, because it helps to reframe players' perspectives and understand that even though they finished playing, they can still be very influential and useful in running and developing the future of the game.
Norway have qualified for a first men's World Cup since 1998 – how important is this for the nation as a whole and what are your hopes for the tournament?
People say we can be dark horses, but nobody in Norway is talking too much about expectations or results because we have a very difficult group stage, with France, African champions Senegal, and Iraq.
We are very proud of our qualification, and the World Cup will be a huge national event. It's been an incredible time for us because the team has performed so well. When we qualified, there were over 50,000 people who came to celebrate at the city hall, so that shows what it means to people, and it's important that these players are great role models for the kids.
The game is such a strong tool for bringing people together, for helping to integrate immigrant communities or giving people some happiness when they are worried about other events in the world. It has a huge impact, and I believe that as a society we are benefiting every day.
What did the NFF do to make qualification possible after so many years of frustration?
We experienced a lot of pain over the years, but when we missed out on UEFA EURO 2024, we felt that we were very close. We could see the quality, and by being patient for a couple more years, it has paid off.
We certainly have a lot more hard work to come, because success brings more pressure. This is just one qualification, and we need to make sure we are doing it consistently before we can say our development model 100% works, but over the past ten to twelve years, we have been improving a lot of things – our national structures, helping the top academies raise their standards and helping grassroots clubs develop our younger players better.
We keep grassroots and elite football tied very closely together, and that's non-negotiable. On the same day at our training centre, you can see Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard, Ada Hegerberg or Caroline Graham Hansen and a moment later be watching disability football or an army of children taking to the pitches.
In Norway, there are huge distances between cities and communities, and we must ensure they all have pitches and can access structured grassroots football easily. Those famous players I named all stayed with their grassroots clubs into their teenage years, developing their skills locally, and it's reassuring for us to see that the approach is now producing results and that we can compete at the top.
Developing the game at every level is very important to me and incredibly motivating to work on. I believe development should be at the heart of every decision a federation or confederation makes, and I take that attitude into meetings as chair of the UEFA Development and Technical Assistance Committee.
More from Norway
An emerging challenge is the EU ban on microplastics added to artificial pitches, which will also be effective in Norway, and come into force from 2031. How will this impact the game?
This is a huge challenge for us, because in Norway we are more dependent on artificial pitches than almost any other country, and they are essential for year-round play across the whole of the football pyramid, from the grassroots right the way up into the professional game and UEFA competitions.
At the same time, we support the EU ban because of its environmental importance, but it creates a real risk for our model and for participation. So instead of being defensive, we have chosen to lead the transition. We are committing at the highest level, working closely with UEFA, national government and our Nordic partners, and investing in innovation to test new solutions. There is no single answer, especially given the different climates across the continent and how that affects different materials, but by learning, adapting and working together, we believe we can manage this change and continue to make football accessible for everybody, all-year round.
Norwegian football enjoyed another major moment when Oslo hosted the UEFA Women's Champions League final last month. How will that help the game grow?
It was a very special moment, for the entire NFF team. Organising such a huge match is a big effort, and I am very proud of the team, who worked so hard to make it a success.
I played in a Women's Champions League final in 2007, and I am very proud of where UEFA has taken the competition since then. It is a huge event now, and to see women's matches sold out in Norway is very special. It shows where the game is going, and how important a brand the Champions League is to lift the whole sport.
Do you feel envious of current players or proud to have helped pave the way for the game's current explosion in popularity?
I don’t have "envy" in my vocabulary. I'm thrilled at what top players now are experiencing, but it's also important that they understand where the game has come from.
Growing the audience is vital to keep raising the standards within the game. It's important for media attention, for attracting sponsors, and for young girls to see that this game is a major part of everyday life, and something they can aspire to be a part of.
As technical director, I worked hard to ensure there were pitches and coaches available to girls' and women's teams, but now the wider view I have is to create dreams for the entire country, and to attract more people to the game. You can't do that with just 50 people in the stands, so the Women's Champions League final and similar events are enormous opportunities to show how fantastic this sport is and attract more fans on a regular basis.
You mentioned football's positive impact on communities earlier – you're clearly a big believer of the game as a force for good…
I think sports in general, but especially football, have something special. It's visible everywhere you go, a common language that nothing else compares to.
I have seen it in refugee camps, or even during my time as a judge, football helps you connect with people where you may share nothing else, and be able to talk about their national teams, or opinions on a player.
I have a nephew living with a disability and playing regular football is difficult for him, but if we adjust the game a little bit, he can take part. In that way, football becomes a bridge to amazing things where everybody feels included.
That's why we work to make the game as accessible as possible, and if governments can support us with funding, we football federations can really help to bring people together.
And finally, when you eventually leave your roles, how would you like to be remembered as a leader?
That's an easy question for me to answer, because what I want is more than any result or outcome.
I want people to feel that I helped them and that they felt good working with me. I will never compromise empathy for results – yes, we have to be honest, we have to be strong and football is a tough environment, but we also have to care for each other, and that’s what people will remember, and what I remember now about my former team-mates.
Of course, I have other dreams, and as I said at the beginning, I'd still like to see more equality in football. There is no reason why girls and boys should not have the same opportunities everywhere.