McAllister writes a manifesto to obtain a seat on the FIFA Council

In a rare move for a candidate running for the FIFA Council elections, Laura McAllister wrote a statement.

The eight-page document, which was mailed to all 55 member European federations on Thursday, describes her long career in football and explains why she believes she deserves a place at the sport’s strongest decision-making table.

“I’ve played on all levels,” said McAllister in a recent interview with The Associated Press. The six confederations elect a delegate from 37 members. European Football Association (UEFA) will make its decision on April 20, when McAllister faces Evelina Christlin from Italy.

A former national player and captain of the Welsh national team and now in charge of the national federation, McAllister’s profile is compared to only four board members.

An additional qualification is her day-to-day work as a university professor specializing in good governance – an always relevant topic in FIFA and soccer policy.

“I think that’s a great combination,” said McAllister. “I think it will give me some credibility, too.” Credibility was a problem in the past. In 2017, a female candidate won the Asian seat, who made three attempts to answer a BBC reporter’s question to choose the United States as the winner of the Women’s World Cup despite being a member of the FIFA committee that sponsored the 2015 tournament in Canada.

McAllister faces a tough assignment with Kristlin, the well-connected officer already in the seat.

“I have no illusions when I try to banish an incumbent from a big football country,” McAllister said.

McAllister was banned from entering the previous election campaign in 2016. Their participation was banned under the rules then in place, which were restricted to the four British federations in the traditional position of FIFA Vice President, which could only be held by men.

McAllister now faces the former Italian figure skater, whose biography does not contain football sites on the FIFA website. But Kristlin is closely related to the family that owns Juventus. The head of the family, Andrea Agnelli, is a member of the UEFA Executive Committee and president of the European Club Association.

Both candidates have teaching and Olympiad experience – Kristlin as executive at the 2006 Turin Games and McAllister at UK Sports Promotion Agency – despite being a Welsh man with deep roots in football.

As a member of the UEFA Women’s Football Committee, she contributed to the group’s strategic vision and was impressed by the FIFA version.

“I think FIFA has done everything it can to ensure that this strategy makes a difference,” she said.

McAllister hopes these programs will help more women create professional teams for men.

In addition to the women’s game, McAllister is committed to helping soccer agencies protect players, coaches and referees from online racism and abuse, including by identifying and identifying perpetrators.

She said: “This may not be a big winner in the elections.” “If you talk to individual countries about why this is important, they will get in on it very quickly.” After dozens of advertising campaigns online, Election Day for UEFA could be a face-to-face meeting in Montreux, Switzerland.

From their conversations with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Alexandre Schiffrin, both MacAllister realized that they need people, but that they particularly need women who can speak up and communicate some of the values ​​and ambitions they need. we. McAllister said, “I think I’m in that category. “AP KHS KHS

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