Belgian soccer federation president Pascale van Damme is poised to join FIFA’s governing council after being the sole candidate for a position designated for a female representative from Europe.
Van Damme is expected to be voted in without opposition during a UEFA meeting scheduled for April 3 in Belgrade, Serbia, according to UEFA’s announcement on Monday.

Having transitioned from a successful career in the technology sector, Van Damme took the helm of Belgian soccer less than two years ago.
She is set to embark on a four-year term within FIFA’s structure, which compensates its members with a salary of $250,000 per year.

Van Damme will be taking over from Evelina Christillin, who has held the position for over eight years and is a former official from the 2006 Turin Olympics with strong connections to the Juventus-owning Agnelli family.
Notably, Christillin was recognized in 2016 as the first woman elected by UEFA to the 37-member FIFA council.

In an ongoing effort to promote gender representation, each of the six continental soccer confederations maintains a reserved seat for a female member on the FIFA decision-making body, although no woman has ever been elected through a competitive process against male candidates.

Alongside Van Damme’s anticipated election, UEFA plans to re-elect four men to the FIFA council on the same day, including R?zvan Burleanu from Romania, Georgios Koumas of Cyprus, Bernd Neuendorf from Germany, and Dejan Savi?evi? of Montenegro, who is also a former AC Milan star.

All European candidates for FIFA positions, each representing their respective national soccer organizations, adhered to a January 3 deadline to declare their candidacy and must pass a vetting process conducted by FIFA.

UEFA has established a February 3 deadline for nominations to fill 10 vacant seats on its executive committee, which include the position held by David Gill, treasurer and former CEO of Manchester United.
Gill has reached the maximum permissible tenure of 12 years for elected positions within UEFA.

Among the 10 available positions, one is earmarked for women, complementing the seat currently occupied by Laura McAllister, UEFA vice president from Wales, who was elected two years prior.
It is anticipated that candidates for this second women’s quota will likely include Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian football federation.