With the historic chance to vote for female candidates against male opposition for the first time in international soccer politics, UEFA member federations elected one of two women Wednesday.
Debbie Hewitt of England was voted in as the FIFA vice president for the four British soccer nations. She beat the incumbent from Northern Ireland, David Martin, 39-16 in a vote of all the UEFA member countries.
Hewitt’s landmark win came less than an hour after the same voters re-elected UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin by acclaim and rejected the candidacy of Lise Klaveness to join the UEFA executive committee.
Klaveness received only 18 votes, the second-lowest total of 11 candidates in contention for seven seats.
It was a public setback for one of only a handful of female presidents among the 211 national soccer federations worldwide, and one who was outspoken on human rights issues and World Cup host Qatar in the past year.
“I know we have done everything we could. No one has worked harder than us,” Klaveness said in a statement from the Norwegian federation. “We are now moving on towards the next UEFA ExCo election in 2025.”
International and continental soccer organizations like FIFA and UEFA have had protected quota seats for women over the past decade following reforms enacted after widespread corruption allegations. Hewitt’s win Wednesday was the first time a women has beaten a man in an election at FIFA, UEFA or any of the other five continental confederations.
By choosing to challenge the men, Klaveness left the way clear for Laura McAllister of Wales to fill the women’s quota seat on UEFA’s 20-member executive committee unopposed.
McAllister, like Klaveness, is a former national team player.
The seven men elected to four-year terms on the executive committee include Ukrainian soccer federation president Andriy Pavelko, who retained his seat with 31 votes. That was the fewest of the seven winners.
Pavelko will rejoin Russian soccer federation president Alexander Dyukov on UEFA’s decision-making body. Dyukov is due for re-election in 2025.
The other winners Wednesday were Armand Duka (Albania), Jesper Moller (Denmark), Petr Fousek (Czech Republic), Levan Kobiashvili (Georgia), Luis Rubiales (Spain) and Philippe Diallo (France).
In a separate uncontested election, Hans-Joachim Watzke (Germany) got a two-year term.
Executive committee members earn 160,000 euros ($175,000) per year, while McAllister will earn 250,000 euros ($273,000) after later being appointed a UEFA vice president. Hewitt will earn $250,000 annually as a FIFA Council member.
