Rajesh Patel, MOF (born on 3 April 1961) is a member of

FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...

and senior vice-president of the

Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...

. He is presently elected as the president of

Fiji Football Association The Fiji Football Association is the governing body of football in Fiji. It came into existence in 1961. It is the overseeing body of the Fiji National Team and its leagues. History Football started to be played in Fiji ever since the arrival o ...

. He has been the first sport administrator from Fiji to be elected as a member in the FIFA Council.

FIFA council member election

Patel was elected as a member in the FIFA council on 9 March 2019 during the

Extraordinary Congress held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and before he was elected in the FIFA board, he has been among the members that helps in introducing a seven-year plan intended for qualification of 2026

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

for Fiji and had introduce the fully domestic professional football league in Fiji.

Award

Patel commitment to the service of football development in the country led him to received an award of a service worthy for a particular recognition the Medal of the

Order of Fiji The Order of Fiji is the highest Order (honour), honour of the Fijian honours system. Established 1 March 1995, the order is presented for achievement and merit to Fiji and mankind as a whole. The order is divided into a general division and mili ...

by President

Jioji Konrote Major-General Jioji Konousi "George" Konrote, (born 26 December 1947) is a Fijian politician and retired Major-General of the Fiji Military who served as the President of Fiji from 2015 to 2021. After commanding a peacekeeping mission in Leba ...

at the Investiture Ceremony at State House.

Notes

Living people 1961 births FIFA officials Recipients of the Order of Fiji {{Fiji-footy-bio-stub