Federal Assembly: eligibility, term limits and gender quotas on the Executive Board on the table

On the evening of last Thursday, 16 October 2025, the Federal Assembly was convened to approve a number of amendments to the Statutes, on the basis of the proposals put forward by the FSGC Executive Board. Specifically, three topics were submitted to the Federal Assembly: i) eligibility; ii) term limits; iii) gender quotas.

With regard to the eligibility criteria for membership of the Executive Board, the proposed amendment aimed to set out in an even clearer and more unequivocal way what had already been defined – albeit in a somewhat disjointed fashion – within the Statutes. The document in fact provides that, in order to meet the eligibility requirements, one must not be affected by the incompatibilities mentioned in the Statutes. It is clear to all that these incompatibilities are strictly linked to eligibility, since other and different incompatibilities – including those arising subsequently – are mentioned in other statutory provisions and may be resolved. However, since the regularisation of such situations is not in fact an element of incompatibility (as required by the article relating to eligibility), the Federal Assembly was called upon to express its view on the matter – but did not reach the required quorum to ratify the amendment.

The revision of the term limits for the eight Executive Board Members other than the President was intended to guarantee the Federal Assembly the constant possibility – at the end of each four‑year term – to choose between the concrete experience gained and placing its trust in new projects and candidates, without imposing compulsory changes dictated by a time limit. Since the maximum limit of three consecutive terms for Executive Board Members will not take effect for the current Executive before January 2032, the proposal would certainly not have led to any erosion of the Federal Assembly’s decision‑making powers. The failure to reach the quorum confirms the current legal framework, with the result that at the end of the current term only one of the eight Members currently in office will be unable to continue their service on the Executive Board in this specific role. This is a consequence of the introduction of a gender quota, which was the third major topic of discussion last Thursday.

The proposal concerning the introduction of a gender quota – an extremely sensitive issue at this particular moment in the history of the San Marino Football Federation – was the only one to reach the necessary quorum for approval. Following the unanimous vote within the Executive Board, the Federal Assembly confirmed this intention by voting in favour by majority. The hope is that in the near future similar initiatives will also find, within the elective and supreme body of our organisation, full alignment of views among all representatives – definitively abandoning an anachronistic legacy that does not befit a sports federation which promotes, supports and proudly showcases women’s football activities.