Malta FA president Bjorn Vassallo misses out on UEFA Executive Committee seat

Malta FA president Bjorn Vassallo was unsuccessful in his bid to earn a place in UEFA’s Executive Committee as the European governing body held its elections during its congress in Belgrade on Thursday.

Vassallo was making his second attempt to earn a seat in the UEFA EXCO after his failed bid two years ago in Lisbon.

The MFA president was one of five candidates who were bidding for one of the two seats available for a two-year term at the Executive Committee.

Vassallo was up against Vadims Lasenko, of Latvia, Spain’s Rafael Abal Louzan, Andriy Shevchenko, of Ukraine, and Israel’s Moshe Zuares.  

However, following the vote, it was Louzan and Zuares who won the seats.

Louzan received 32 votes while Zuares gathered one less, 31.

Vassallo managed to collect 18 votes and failed the cut while another notable candidate who failed to win a seat was Ukraine football great Shevchenko who only received 15 votes.

Zuares, who became Israel FA president in 2019 and was re-elected in 2022, campaigned across Europe, visiting almost every member association.  

He has also engaged with the Israeli government and military officials, particularly in response to the Palestinian campaign for FIFA sanctions against Israel, and has reportedly visited hospitals and IDF bases to show support and solidarity for Israel’s military.  

UEFA has not banned Israel from the game following the war in Gaza, with general secretary Theodore Theodoridis explaining last year that the conflict was different from the war in Ukraine.  

With absolute majorities, Frank Pauw (Netherlands), Marijan Kustić (Croatia), Ari Lahti (Finland), Aivar Pohlak (Estonia) and Armen Melikbekyan (Armenia) won seats on the Exco for four-year terms. Paauw proved to be the most popular with 49 votes.  

Italy’s Gabriele Gravina and Hans-Joachim Watzke (Germany) retained their seats with 48 votes.  

Russia will no longer have a seat on the committee after Alexander Dyukov decided to not stand for re-election. Karl-Erik Nilsson, David Gill, Zbigniew Boniek, Servet Yardimci and Just Spee also leave the committee.  

Razvan Burleanu (Romania), George Koumas (Cyprus), Bernd Neuendorf (Germany) and Dejan Savićević (Montenegro) retained their seats as European representatives of the FIFA Council unopposed.

Belgium’s Pascale Van Damme replaces Italy’s Evelina Christillin as the female member.