Ex-Wales captain Laura McAllister loses Uefa vote to join Fifa Council
- Published
Laura McAllister is Professor of Public Policy at Cardiff University
Laura McAllister has lost her bid to become Uefa's representative for women on Fifa's ruling council.
The 56-year-old former Wales captain lost the vote in Montreux 33-22 to Italy's Evelina Christillin, who held the role in the previous term.
It was McAllister's second attempt at securing a place on the world governing body.
She was denied the chance to stand in 2016 when an 80-year-old rule blocked her bid.
It was the second defeat of the day for a Welsh football nominee, with Football Association of Wales (FAW) president Kieran O'Connor missing out to David Martin of Northern Ireland for the role of Fifa vice-president.
All four British football associations supported McAllister's bid to become Uefa's female delegate on the Fifa Council.
McAllister said: "I'm obviously hugely disappointed with the result, although I knew it was always going to be an extremely difficult task to unseat an incumbent.
"The fact that we were just six votes short of winning the election is hopefully testament to the modern, professional and football-focused campaign that we ran.
"My commitment to our beautiful game and its core values remains as strong as ever and I will redouble my efforts to make football a game for everyone to enjoy.
"I hope I can stand for election again as my enthusiasm to drive change is undiminished.
"I'd also like to congratulate Evelina Christillin on her re-election and wish her all the best for the important work that lies ahead."
The election of the European members of the Fifa Council was conducted at Tuesday's Uefa Congress, where the 55 member associations of European football's governing body cast their votes.
McAllister has been deputy chair of Uefa's women's football committee since 2017 and is a former Sport Wales chair.
She had hoped to become Uefa's first female member of the Fifa Council to have also played at international level.
The Fifa Council is the main decision-making body of football's world governing organisation.
Led by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, the council consists of 37 members, including eight vice-presidents elected by the member associations.
There is one vice-president for each of Fifa's six confederations, apart from its largest, Uefa, which has three.
A minimum of one female representative must be elected per confederation. Christillin remains Uefa's sole female member on the council.
McAllister, who won 24 caps for Wales from 1994 to 2001, is an experienced sports administrator.
She was Sport Wales chair between 2010 and 2016, and during the same period she was a board member of UK Sport.
McAllister is currently a director of the FAW Trust, as well as the chair of the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.
The regulation that blocked her election bid in 2016 has since been changed.
England's David Gill, the former Manchester United chief executive, was a Fifa vice-president at the time, meaning no other British person could apply according to the world governing body's rules.