By Marius Lien

Woman Offside - A year with Lise Klaveness as she tries to reform football

$9.99 - $24.99
$24.99
$24.99

During the FIFA congress in Doha, Qatar in 2022, Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Association, gave a speech that sent shock waves through the football world:

"In 2010, the World Cup was awarded by FIFA in unacceptable ways with unacceptable consequences…Our members do demand change, they question the ethics in sport and insist on transparency. We must listen! We cannot ignore the calls for change." 

Among the football leaders inside FIFA, Klaveness was seen as a nuisance, and she was told to keep quiet.

But among football fans, primarily in Norway, but also in other parts of the world, she was perceived as a breath of fresh air.

After the speech, Klaveness has continued her work, trying to reform FIFA from the inside. But how much can one person do, in today’s football world?

Football writer and journalist Marius Lien followed Klaveness closely for one year, from January to December 2023. Through FIFA and UEFA congresses, the World Cup in New Zealand and Australia and travels around her home country Norway. The result is a book that provides deep insight into how the football world works in the midst of the Gianni Infantino era. 

Front and back cover photographs by Christian Belgaux. 

More Information

  • Format: Paperback
  • Published:  March 2024
  • ISBN:  978-1-925914-10-8ISBN: 978-1-025014-11-5 (ePub)
  • Weight: 0.2kg 
  • Size:  216 x 140mm
  • Pages:  114
  • Imprint: Fair Play Publishing

About the Author

Marius Lien is a journalist and writer. He started is career in journalism in 1999, and football was among his preferred subjects from the beginning.

Since then he has written about football, literature, film and music for several newspapers and outlets in Norway. He worked as a culture journalist in the weekly newspaper Morgenbladet for more than ten years. In 2009 he co-founded the football magazine Josimar, with his friend Frode da Costa-Lia. Josimar has since then grown into a leading publication for criticism of FIFA and of the economic and moral exploitation of modern football, receiving several prices for its independent journalism.

Marius has published eleven books, primarily non-fiction about football and music, as well as one mini-novel. In 2014 he was shortlisted for the Norwegian literary critic’s prize for Best Non Fiction, for his book about Brazilian Football.

Marius has studied anthropology, contemporary religion, and film history. He prefers to call his method ‘anthropological journalism’, and his texts have been translated into several languages, among them English, German, Portuguese and Swedish.

In his spare time, Marius likes to play football, and he tries to keep up with the youngsters in the lower, local leagues in the south-east of Norway. 

Shipping Information

We offer standard postage services at cost provided by Australia Post to all destinations, which varies by weight and destination (Australia, New Zealand, and Rest of World).

We aim to dispatch Australian book orders within two working days and worldwide orders within five working days. Australia Post standard delivery schedule is 3-5 days after postage within Australia; up to 10 working days to New Zealand; and up to 15 working days elsewhere in the world. You will receive an email from us when your order has been despatched.

If you do not receive your order within the anticipated delivery time, please let us know and we will make inquiries of the postal service. 

We also offer a self pick-up option at Balgowlah Heights Shopping Village in Sydney.

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 10 working days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper, the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it, and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request.

If you need to return an item, please Contact Us with your order number and details about the product you would like to return. We will respond quickly with instructions for how to return items from your order.

We do not accept returns of digital books or audio books.

$24.99
$24.99