Yahoo Finance Former Wales international Laura McAllister to stand for election for Fifa Council
Former Wales captain Laura McAllister has vowed to “speak up for the women’s game” if appointed as UEFA’s next female representative on the Fifa council after announcing her nomination for the role.
Widely regarded as a trailblazing figure in women’s football, Professor McAllister played in every Wales international from 1994 to 2001, amassing 24 caps for her country.
In 1992, she was one of three female footballers who lobbied the Football Association of Wales to grant recognition to women's football in Wales and enjoyed a 12-year career with Cardiff City Ladies.
The 56-year-old has spent the past two decades working in sports governance, having been the chair of Sport Wales from 2010 to 2016 she was the chair of Sport Wales. She also served as a board member for UK Sport during that time and is the current deputy chair of the UEFA Women's Football Committee.
Should she be elected to Fifa’s main decision-making body, McAllister would become the first female UEFA member to have played the game at international level.
“I believe my candidacy is very much in the zeitgeist of what football needs now, which is improved diversity, a voice for women who have played the game and know the game inside out and someone who is not afraid to speak up in support of the women’s game,” McAllister, who received a CBE for services to sport in 2016, told Telegraph Sport.
"I feel very strongly that we don’t just need women in football leadership roles, we need women who have a voice and women who are not afraid to speak up for women’s football and for football in general.”
Six members of Fifa’s 37-strong council are reserved for women - one from each confederation - following a raft of reforms in 2016 to address gender imbalance within the governing body.
McAllister, who has already gained the support from the English, Scottish and Northern Ireland football associations, is likely to come up against Italy’s Evelina Christillin, a veteran Italian sports executive who worked on Turin’s 2006 Olympic bid.
“I’m always torn between celebrating how far we’ve come and bemoaning how far we’ve got to go,” added McAllister. “Female players still don’t have the same pathways like men and they don’t have the same resources, support, pay and contracts.
“I’d like to drive change at the grassroots level to improve the opportunities for girls in the game. That’s something that is really close to my heart.”
European members of the Fifa Council will be elected on March 2 next year at the Uefa Congress.
McAllister put her name forward to become the first European female on Fifa's ruling council in 2016, but was forced to withdraw her nomination after a regulation dating back to the 1940s made her ineligible.
At the time, David Gill, the former Manchester United chief executive, was the Fifa vice-president and the antiquated rule, which has since been changed, meant that no other British person could apply.
