Australia FIFA exec committee candidate Moya Dodd said that the introduction of a female seat on the governing body's exec committee "is a significant step in gender inequality being eradicated from the game and not a token position," according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. The first election for the exec committee is "due to take place this month." Dodd, a former player, commentator and current lawyer, "is up for the role but faces competition." Also in the running are New Zealand's Paula Kearns, Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands and President of the Burundi FA Lydia Nsekera, "who has been the co-opted member of FIFA ExCo since 2012." The successful candidate "will be decided by a vote at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius on May 31," and Dodd believes whoever wins the seat on the board "must seize the opportunity." Dodd: "For me, personally, it would be a very significant step. I hope that whoever takes the seat makes a real tangible contribution and I suppose exceeds expectation as to what she can contribute." Dodd said that women "had long faced struggles at all levels in the game but that the newly-created role was not an attempt by FIFA to plaster over past sexism accusations." Dodd: "Is it a token position? I wouldn't treat it as that. If you are given an opportunity to contribute to the top table then you have got to make the most of that opportunity." Dodd "is keen not to be pigeonholed." She has "assembled an impressive resume," which includes a victory over Brazil in FIFA's women's invitational tournament in '88, three years before the inaugural women's World Cup. Dodd: "One day I would love to get to the point where your gender is not a matter of comment. I don't want to be famous for being female, I would just like to be good at what I do and become known for having made a contribution but that day is some way off" (REUTERS, 5/6).
