Belgian soccer leader Pascale Van Damme to get European seat for women on FIFA ruling council

NYON, Switzerland — Belgian soccer federation president Pascale van Damme is set join FIFA’s ruling council after being the only candidate to run for a seat reserved for a female official from Europe.

UEFA said Monday that van Damme will run unopposed and is set to be elected at a UEFA meeting on April 3 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Van Damme, a former technology industry executive, was elected to lead Belgian soccer less than two years ago. She is now in line to get a four-year term in the FIFA post that pays $250,000 annually.

She will replace Evelina Christillin, a former 2006 Turin Olympics official with close ties to the Juventus-owning Agnelli family, who leaves after more than eight years in the role.

In 2016, Christillin was the first woman elected by UEFA to join the 37-member FIFA Council.

Each of soccer’s six continental confederations has a place reserved for a woman on the FIFA decision-making body, and none has ever elected a woman in a contested vote against men.