Laura McAllister: Ex-Wales captain secures Uefa executive role

Laura McAllister is Professor of Public Policy at Cardiff University

Former Wales captain Laura McAllister has secured a place on Uefa's executive committee and will be a vice-president.

McAllister had been due to stand for election for the post, but she has been appointed unopposed.

The 58-year-old is the first Welsh person to serve on Uefa's executive committee and had been backed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW).

Her appointment on a four-year term was confirmed at the Uefa congress in Portugal on Wednesday.

European football's governing body also confirmed that president Aleksander Ceferin has been re-elected for a third four-year term.

"I am very grateful to everyone who has supported me on this journey so far and to the FAW for nominating me," McAllister said.

"Welsh football is breaking through a lot of glass ceilings currently and joining the Uefa executive committee will be a tremendous achievement for the FAW and a very proud moment for me and my family.

"Once I am officially elected to the executive committee at the congress in April, I will give all I have to working to improve European football and I look forward to contributing towards a bright future for football for everyone in our beautiful game."

McAllister narrowly lost an election to be Uefa's representative for women on Fifa's ruling council in 2021.

In 2021 McAllister lost a vote 33-22 to Italy's Evelina Christillin, who held the role at Fifa in the previous term.

It was McAllister's second attempt at securing a place on world football's governing body.

The Professor of Public Policy at Cardiff University was denied the chance to stand in 2016 by an 80-year-old rule which blocked a British candidate from standing for election.

"It feels fantastic to have finally got over the line for sure, It's just an immense feeling of pride," McAllister told BBC Radio Wales' Drive programme.

"This is the first time that Wales has had any representation on... Uefa or Fifa for that matter, and I think it's a sign of where we are as a sporting and football nation that we've not only been elected to Uefa's top table but obviously the really pleasing news that I've been asked to be one of the vice-presidents as well.

"I want to be a voice for football but a female voice. I think that's really fundamental that I'll be the only woman on the Uefa executive committee, which says something about the work that we've got ahead of us in terms of diversifying the governance of European football.

"But I think the fact that unexpectedly the president, Aleksander Ceferin, asked me to take on one of the vice-president roles... gives us a sign that there's a real zeitgeist now around diversifying the governance of football.

"Aleksander made it clear to me that he wanted to have a woman in a senior position who could speak for the game, not just women's football but for football generally, and that's a tremendous honour and a really unexpected honour for me and for Wales."

McAllister, who won 24 Wales caps, is deputy chairperson of the Uefa women's football committee and a member of its working group on gender equality.

"The FAW strategy 'Our Wales' commits to having our voice at the top tables of European and world football," FAW chief executive Noel Mooney added.

"When Laura's position on the Uefa executive committee is formally confirmed in April, we will have achieved yet another huge milestone in our strategy, with Laura becoming the first person from Wales on a Uefa or Fifa board in the history of the FAW."

Ceferin, who like McAllister was unopposed, was re-elected to the same role in 2019.

Slovenian lawyer Ceferin took over as Uefa president in 2016 after France's Michel Platini stepped down after being banned by Fifa over ethics breaches.

Ceferin beat Michael van Praag 42-13 in the poll to become the new head of European football's governing body in 2016.

The 55-year-old faced criticism in February after an independent report found Uefa bears "primary responsibility" for the chaotic scenes that "almost led to disaster" before last year's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

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