STOCKHOLM (AP) 鈥� Former Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt was recommended on Wednesday to become the next president of the country's soccer federation.
Reinfeldt was prime minister from 2006-14 as leader of the Moderate Party and has no previous links to soccer.
鈥淚t is an exciting assignment because throughout my life I have tried to find socially useful assignments and for me soccer is just that,鈥� Reinfeldt said. 鈥淚t is also beneficial to society because it covers all of Sweden, soccer is in every corner of Sweden.鈥�
Formally, the next chairman of the Swedish soccer association is to be elected to a two-year term on March 25 at a meeting that includes the district associations and the top clubs.
In a statement, the Swedish soccer association said it had 鈥渓istened to the entire movement and unanimously decided鈥� on Reinfeldt.
The two other candidates in the race had pulled out 鈥� H茅l猫ne Barnekow, who has had high-profile roles in the IT industry in Sweden at Microsoft and telecommunications firm Telia, and Lars-Christer Olsson, a former chief executive at UEFA and a member of its executive committee until 2021.
Karl-Erik Nilsson is stepping down as the federation鈥檚 president after 10 years. He is one of UEFA鈥檚 vice presidents and can stay on in that role into 2025.
___
More AP soccer:
The Associated Press
