UEFA will elect at least one woman to its board for the first time in May – with Norwegian Karen Espelund tipped for a landmark appointment.

During the European football body’s Extraordinary Congress, delegates voted to reserve a minimum of one position on its executive committee for a female representative.

According to Reuters, Espelund – UEFA’s Women’s Football Committee chair – is the first woman likely to be elected. Only one member from any country can sit on the executive committee, but that is extended to two if one representative is a woman.

UEFA’s motion follows a similar pledge made by FIFA, which published a number of reform proposals amid its corruption crisis, with at least six female members of the FIFA Council to be elected.

FIFA reforms were unanimously accepted before the beleaguered body’s much-anticipated presidential vote.