World Rugby announced on Tuesday, January 31 that Britain’s Gill Whitehead (pictured above) has been appointed as the independent chairwoman of the board of directors for the 2025 Women’s World Cup in England. She will chair the board of directors of the new organizational structure of the event, the result of a unique collaboration between the international body and the English Rugby Union (RFU). Gill Whitehead has previously worked in the media and technology sectors, including at Google, the BBC and Channel 4. She has also been a non-executive director of FTSE 100 companies and the British Olympic Association. Gill Whitehead has a passion for women’s sport and played rugby before coaching at Beaconsfield RFC, an English second division club. She will chair a board of directors made up of representatives appointed by World Rugby, the RFU and the UK government, as well as another independent director “selected on the basis of expertise”.
