Robbie Keane is set to be included as a member of a new Uefa advisory board of elite coaches and former players, which will aim to tackle issues around the laws of the game, refereeing and the football calendar.
The Republic of Ireland’s all-time leading goalscorer is part of an exclusive list of names in the game, which include José Mourinho, Zinedine Zidane and Paolo Maldini, according to reports in the Times of London newspaper.
The board is set to be chaired by former Croatian midfielder Zvonimir Boban, who is Uefa’s director of football. One of the first tasks will be to discuss the controversial handball rule, with further topics of conversation such as VAR, Uefa competitions and youth development.
The 20 members confirmed are listed as follows: Robbie Keane, José Mourinho, Zinedine Zidane, Gareth Southgate, Rio Ferdinand, Carlo Ancelotti, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Capello, Javier Zanetti, Luis Figo, Philipp Lahm, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Rafa Benítez, Roberto Martínez, Predrag Mijatovic, Jürgen Klinsmann, Rudi Völler, Petr Cech and Juan Mata.
Patrick Vieira and Didier Drogba have also been invited on to the new board but have yet to confirm. A similar Uefa body will be formed in the near future to cover the women’s game.
Keane is working for Uefa in an advisory role, and is a technical observer for Uefa at matches in major European and national team competitions. He was present at the recent Fifa World Cup in Qatar. Keane’s four-year contract with the FAI, of which two of those years he was assistant manager, expired last summer.
