Karen Espelund (born 1 February 1961 in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

) is a former Norwegian football player and a former football official. Espelund started her football career at the

SK Trondheims-Ørn Rosenborg Ballklub Kvinner (previously known as Sportsklubben Trondheims-Ørn) is a Norwegian women's professional football club in Trondheim, Trøndelag. History The club was founded as a multi-sports club on May 18, 1917, and became a mem ...

and played 300 matches between 1976 and 1985. In 1981 and 1982, she played twice for the Norwegian national women's team. Later she held several management positions at the

Football Association of Norway The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the league systems f ...

(NFF). From 1988 to 1996 she served as Director, thereafter until 1999 as Vice President and then, until 2009 as General Secretary. She became a member of the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

Women’s Football Committee in 1990. In 2011, she got a two-year mandate to serve as UEFA Women's Football Committee Chairman in

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, ...

's inner circle. As of 2012, she was a member of the executive committee of UEFA. In May 2016,

Florence Hardouin Florence Denise Philippine Hardouin (' Topin; born 26 January 1967) is a French football official. In February 2013, she became the Deputy General Manager of the French Football Federation (French: Fédération Française de Football, FFF) and in a ...

was elected as her successor.

References

External links

UEFA profile
1961 births Living people Footballers from Trondheim SK Trondheims-Ørn players Members of the UEFA Executive Committee Norwegian women's footballers Norway women's international footballers Norwegian sports executives and administrators UEFA officials Women's association football players not categorized by position {{Norway-women-footy-bio-stub