USSF prez Parlow Cone elected to FIFA Council

U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone was elected to the FIFA Council on Saturday, as the North America representative from Concacaf.

The election took place at Concacaf's 40th Ordinary Congress, which was held in Cap Estate, St. Lucia. Parlow Cone ran unopposed, replacing Yon de Luisa of the Mexico Football Federation, and was voted in by acclamation.

Concacaf has five slots on the 37-member FIFA Council, which outside of the broader FIFA Congress, is the main decision-making body of FIFA. One position is taken up by the Concacaf president -- currently filled by Victor Montagliani of Canada -- with another three representing the Caribbean, Central America and North America regions. An additional slot is designated for a female representative.

In addition to Parlow Cone, Randy Harris of Barbados was elected to fill the Caribbean slot, while Sonia Fulford of the Turks & Caicos Islands was re-elected to be the female representative. Rodolfo Villalobos currently holds the Central American region slot on the FIFA Council.

With the U.S. set to co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, as well as bid alongside Mexico for the hosting rights to the 2031 Women's World Cup, having a seat on the FIFA Council is viewed as important in representing the USSF's interests.

The U.S. has been without representation on the FIFA Council since 2021, when the term of former USSF president Sunil Gulati expired.

Parlow Cone opted not to run for re-election for her Concacaf Council position as the North America representative. That paved the way Liga MX president Mikel Arriola to run unopposed, but Parlow Cone will remain on the Concacaf Council as a non-voting member.

Other spots on the Concacaf council were filled by Sergio Chuc of Belize for the Central American region, while Maurice Victoire was re-elected to represent the Caribbean region.

Concacaf's member associations also reviewed and approved the confederation's 2025 budget.