FIFA appoint first woman to executive committee

PARIS (AFP) - FIFA has appointed the first woman to its executive committee on Tuesday, as world football's governing body bids to restore its image after a series of corruption scandals.

Lydia Nsekera, president of the Burundi Football Association, has been co-opted onto the executive committee and will be formally installed at the FIFA Congress in Budapest on Friday, FIFA said in a statement.

Nsekera is already a member of FIFA committees for women's football, the women's World Cup and the organising committee for the Olympic football tournaments.

As part of the effort to tackle corruption in football, Domenico Scala has also been appointed as the independent chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee.

The appointment of Scala, who is a Swiss and Italian citizen, will be also submitted to the Congress for ratification.

Meanwhile, six cities were also approved to host the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil -- Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Salvador -- although concerns remain about building work to revamp stadium venues.

FIFA indicated that they had a contingency plan should host cities not be ready in time.

"Several match schedules including four, five and six cities have been worked out in order to adapt smoothly to the actual situation in due time at the latest in mid-November," the statement read.