The president of FIFA on Friday appointed Fatma Samoura of Senegal, a veteran UN diplomat, as the organization’s secretary general.
Samoura is to be the first woman to hold a senior executive position in FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. She is to serve as the organization’s chief executive in the revamped governance structure that FIFA approved this year.
FIFA said Samoura is expected to start in June, after eligibility and integrity checks now required of top executives.
Photo: AP
“It is essential for FIFA to incorporate fresh perspectives — from outside the traditional pool of football executives — as we continue to restore and rebuild our organization,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said during the announcement at the FIFA Congress in Mexico City. “No one exemplifies what we need more than Fatma does and we are thrilled that she has joined our team.”
Samoura has decades of experience in UN programs in Africa, most recently as the resident representative for the UN Development Program in Nigeria. While a bold choice by Infantino, she does not appear to have any experience in sports governance or in negotiating television rights and sponsorship agreements, which will be two of her major responsibilities.
Still, Infantino said he was impressed with Samoura’s experience, saying: “She will bring a fresh wind to FIFA — someone from outside.”
Meanwhile, Indonesia yesterday welcomed a FIFA decision to end the country’s year-long ban from world soccer over government interference, saying it hoped for more transparency in the sport.
Infantino on Friday announced that Indonesia had been reinstated after Jakarta sent a letter notifying that it had lifted sanctions on national soccer body PSSI.
Indonesia has been without a national competition for the better part of a year, after a feud between the PSSI and the Indonesian Ministry of Sport saw the top-grade tournament suspended.
“We hope the lifting of the ban will push the nation to improve its national football, especially in regards to revamping its organisational management, increasing transparency, accountability and enhancing a more harmonious relationship with the various stakeholders,” the ministry said in a statement.
It suggested that FIFA’s decision was the result of the “good relationship” that has developed between Indonesia and FIFA since Infantino took charge.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa also applauded the move.
“We welcome them [Indonesia] back into the Asian football family,” he said in a statement. “However, the AFC executive committee reiterated this week their continued stand against government intervention in sport generally and football in particular.”
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