Archive · 20 Aug 2026
Football’s Powerful Women Helped Defeat Infantino’s World Cup Plan
Fifa proposed a project called Fifa Forward Enterprise, which opponents believed could threaten football’s basic principles.
The plan was later withdrawn.
Several influential women in football helped persuade European federations to oppose it.
Laura McAllister called for a boycott of Fifa competitions.
Lise Klaveness said the proposal had badly damaged trust in Fifa.
Debbie Hewitt helped organize opposition privately.
The article says women are still greatly outnumbered in football’s top decision-making bodies.
The three women now want more former female players to enter football administration.
Laura McAllister, Lise Klaveness and Debbie Hewitt helped coordinate opposition to Fifa’s proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise project.
McAllister called for a boycott of Fifa competitions, and Uefa later backed that position.
Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness said the withdrawn proposal had seriously damaged trust in Fifa’s leadership.
Debbie Hewitt, chair of England’s Football Association, reportedly worked behind the scenes to unite national federations.
Only eight of the 37 members of the Fifa Council are women, prompting calls for greater female representation in football governance.
- Who
- Laura McAllister, Lise Klaveness and Debbie Hewitt led opposition among European football federations; Fifa president Gianni Infantino was the principal figure associated with the proposal.
- What
- European federations opposed Fifa’s proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise project, which was subsequently withdrawn.
- When
- The opposition developed after the proposal became public; McAllister joined Uefa’s executive committee in 2023, while Klaveness joined its second designated women’s position the following year after it was created in 2024.
- Where
- The dispute involved Fifa and Uefa institutions and European national football federations.
- Why
- Opponents said the proposal threatened football’s ethics, principles, checks and balances, and the foundations of the sport.
FFE Opponents
Fifa Proposal
Effect on football governance
FFE Opponents
McAllister, Klaveness and allied federations argued that the project threatened football’s ethics, principles and institutional checks and balances.
Fifa Proposal
Fifa put forward the Fifa Forward Enterprise project, but the article does not provide a detailed defense of the proposal from Fifa or Infantino.
Response to the proposal
FFE Opponents
McAllister called for a boycott of Fifa competitions, while European federations formed a united front against the plan.
Fifa Proposal
The proposal was withdrawn after the opposition, ending the immediate initiative but not the wider dispute over trust in Fifa leadership.
Women’s role in decision-making
FFE Opponents
The women leading the opposition called for more female representation and for former players to move into football governance.
Fifa Proposal
The article highlights that women remain under-represented in Fifa and Uefa decision-making, without presenting a contrary position from those institutions.
- Proposal
- Fifa Forward Enterprise, or FFE
- Status
- The proposal was withdrawn after opposition from European federations.
- Women on Fifa Council
- Eight of 37 members are women.
- McAllister’s action
- She called for a boycott of Fifa competitions at a Uefa emergency meeting.
- Norway’s position
- Norway became the first national federation to demand Gianni Infantino’s resignation.
- Uefa representation
- Uefa created a second designated position for a woman in 2024, after previously having one.
- Presentation reference
- Women’s football received one mention in the 25-page FFE sales presentation.