Frenchwoman wins landmark Uefa vote

Budapest: European football’s governing body Uefa elected Frenchwoman Florence Hardouin as its first female executive member in a landmark vote at a congress in Budapest on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old Hardouin, French Football Federation (FFF) director general, won by 33 votes to 21 against her rival candidate, the former Norwegian international Karen Espelund, 55, who has been a co-opted member of Uefa’s Executive Committee since 2012.

“My role will be both as a voice of French football and of other federations,” Hardouin said after the result was announced.

Both candidates had said the vote by Uefa’s 54-member associations at its annual decision-making event would be a key step in changing football’s administration in its most powerful regional confederation.