May 24 – UEFA look set to elect a replacement next week, most likely on an interim basis, for Germany’s Reinhard Grindel who was forced to resign last month as a UEFA vice president and as a member of the FIFA Council after being forced out as president of his national federation.
The former lawmaker and journalist had come under growing pressure at home for mistakes while running the German FA and stepped down amid reports he had earned undeclared income of €78,000 from a media subsidiary. He also acknowledged accepting a luxury watch gift from a Ukrainian colleague at UEFA.
UEFA’s executive committee is to discuss how to fill the role when it meets on Wednesday ahead the Champions League final in Baku.
With UEFA’s next scheduled election meeting to formally replace Grindel not until next year, an interim replacement is likely to be picked in order to restore Europe’s full eight-strong quota on the FIFA Council.
This is important for UEFA given its opposition to Gianni Infantino’s proposed blueprint for an overhaul of the Club World Cup which is due to be discussed when the Council meets in Paris on June 3.