Honorary FIFA Vice-President David Will CBE, an immensely popular figure within the game, has passed away overnight, aged 72, after a battle with a long illness, leaving the Scottish football and FIFA communities in mourning.
Will was born in Edzell, just outside Brechin on Scotland's east coast on 22 November 1936. He immediately developed a passion for football and although an injury sustained while skiing curtailed his burgeoning amateur career, it did not end his involvement with the sport - an involvement that he would relish throughout his life. He was awarded a CBE for his services to football in 2002.
Will's ascent within football took him through posts at the Forfarshire Football Association, President of the Scottish Football Association, UEFA Executive Committee member. A member of the Board of Appeal for the FIFA competitions as of 1987, he joined the FIFA Executive Committee in 1990, in the role of FIFA Vice-President, replacing Harry H. Cavan.
He left the Executive Committee in May 2007 after 17 years at FIFA where among many other functions he was Chairman of the Referees Committee, Chairman of the Players Status Committee, Chairman of the Committee for Legal Matters and member of the Bureau for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™. Until recently, he was Chairman of the FIFA Ticketing Sub-Committee.
"His passion for football was nothing short of extraordinary,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. The decades of loyal service he devoted to the work of the Scottish football Association, UEFA and FIFA have a far-reaching impact on the game at all levels and will never be forgotten."
At the FIFA Congress in Zurich on 31 May 2007 he was made an Honorary Vice-President of FIFA having won considerable respect for his dignity, ingenuity and love of the game.
