By Andrew Warshaw
November 19 – President Sepp Blatter’s personal choice as the first elected female member of his executive committee has been ousted by her own federation after nine years in charge. Lydia Nsekera, elected to FIFA’s inner sanctum amid considerable pomp at this year’s Congress in Mauritius, has been replaced as head of the Burundi football association, an untimely blow to global efforts to increase the influence of women football administrators.
Nsekera was one of the few women to have headed a national federation and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. But she was beaten 31-25 by Senator Révérien Ndikuriyo in a secret ballot conducted in front of observers from both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football.
The vote does not affect Nsekera’s membership of the FIFA executive committee. She will continue to serve her term until 2017 despite losing her national power base but her weakened profile will be viewed with some concern by FIFA’s top brass.
Ndikuriyo, a former rebel fighter, is president of Black Eagle, a second division team in Burundi’s southeastern Makamba province. The election had been delayed since February, reportedly because of sniping between the rival contenders.
Nsekera, whose defeat leaves Isha Johansen of Sierra Leone as the only female national FA boss, was co-opted by FIFA at last year’s Congress in Budapest. Then, in Mauritius, she won a three-way election battle against Australia’s Moya Dodd and Sonia Bien-Aime from Turks & Caicos. Both her beaten rivals were themselves co-opted on to the FIFA executive.
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