Norway's Soccer Federation Calls on Infantino to Resign

Norway's soccer federation called on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to step down immediately, adding to the pressure on an embattled leader facing a revolt over his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.

The Norwegian federation held a meeting Thursday, and its president, Lise Klaveness, said the decision had been made to ask Infantino to resign.

"We decided that there is no trust in Infantino now," Klaveness told the Guardian. "We have been worried consistently and there has been one more step in worrying direction every year, every part of the year. The trust is now gone for us, there is no way back for Infantino."

The announcement is the latest blow for Infantino as fallout continues over his plan to sell profits from the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary called the FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE.

UEFA, European soccer's governing body, said Thursday that its threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions remained in place despite FIFA abandoning the plan and apologizing for it. UEFA reiterated that it had lost confidence in Infantino.

Earlier in the week, Infantino appeared to have held off an internal revolt during a summit meeting with top staff in Rabat, Morocco. FIFA said the president had been given the full support of those in attendance.

But UEFA's response, followed by Norway's direct call for him to resign, shows that anger in Europe in particular remains strong. The English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino's reelection next March.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK said the national federation would also file a new complaint with FIFA's ethics committee. The complaint will include the FFE plan, the peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and the suspension of Folarin Balogun's one-match ban at the World Cup.

"We have reached a situation where extraordinary measures are needed to create lasting change," Klaveness said.