Time for more women at UEFA's top table, says Norway's Klaveness

STOCKHOLM : The time has come for more women at the highest level in football and not just representing the women's game, Norwegian Football Association (NFF) president and UEFA executive committee candidate Lise Klaveness told Reuters.

The 41-year-old former Norway international said that she did not want to be appointed to the highest committee of European soccer's governing body, known as ExCo, and instead is aiming to break new ground by being elected by the other national associations.

"I'm the first female president to ever run for an ExCo election, which is pretty critical when you consider that it's the biggest sport for girls and women in the world, so we need a board that reflects that," she said in a telephone interview.

Part of the Norway team that finished fourth at the World Cup in China in 2007, Klaveness played 73 times for her country and served as Norway's technical director before being elected NFF president a year ago.

"Men's football is just as close to my heart as women's football, I find that technical competence has to be represented in the boardrooms, alongside business skills and entertainment skills and investment skills, but the technical aspect needs to be very well-represented, and I'm ready to do that," she said.

Having climbed to the highest post in her country's football association, Klaveness is looking for broader female representation across the board.

"I am for a system where you're elected because of merit, so the reason why I talk about female representation is that I think it's a very important thing for football structures," she explained when asked why other nations should vote for her.

GOOD INSIGHT

"I will be ready to do a good job in the ExCo because I have good insight to the