By Paul Nicholson in Mexico City
May 13 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino took the unexpected step of unveiling the first key appointment of his regime today, naming Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura (pictured) of Senegal as his Secretary General, the first woman in its history to be handed FIFA’s most senior management position.
Not on the agenda at FIFA’s first congress in the post-Sepp Blatter era, Infantino took delegates by complete surprise in announcing Samoura as his number two saying he “truly believed in equality” and that FIFA needed “a fresh wind…not someone from the past.”
Samoura, 51, has worked with the United Nations for the past 21 years and is currently the UN’s Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria. She will take up her new role by mid-June in succession to the sacked and banned Jerome Valcke.
FIFA was originally thought to have mandated headhunters to find the right person for the general secretary’s role but the impression was that this process had been circumvented by Infantino’s recommendation and subsequently approved by the newly established FIFA Council which replaces the old executive committee.
“I have been looking for a secretary-general. I’ve not done it publicly, obviously,” Infantino said tellingly. “I’ve been searching, discussing, having meetings and today I’ve been able to propose the new secretary-general to the FIFA Council.”
Samoura’s credentials for what is essentially a business role to grow a $4 billion organisation (over its for year cycle) are unclear. She will need expertise in managing and negotiating sponsorship and broadcast contracts as well as running the organisation in Zurich.
Samoura has served the UN as country representative or director in six countries: Republic of Djibouti, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Madagascar and Nigeria. Her current responsibilities are listed as “including budgeting, human resources, and procurement, among others.”
Prior to joining the UN, Samoura spent eight working for Senchim, a subsidiary of Industries Chimiques du Senegal.
“Fatma is a woman with international experience and vision who has worked on some of the most challenging issues of our time,” Infantino said in a statement.
“She has proven ability to build and lead teams, and improve the way organisations perform. Importantly for FIFA, she also understands that transparency and accountability are at the heart of any well-run and responsible organisation.”
In a statement, the multi-lingual Samoura said: “I believe this role is a perfect fit for my skills and experience – strategic, high impact team building in international settings – which I will use to help grow the game of football all over the world. I also look forward to bringing my experience in governance and compliance to bear on the important reform work that is already underway at FIFA.”
Crucial to Samoura’s success as FIFA’s de facto CEO will be how well she works with Infantino. It seems clear Infantino will retain a crucial business role – as opposed to the strategic role outlined for the president in the new reforms.
In his first presidential address as Fifa’s new chief, Infantino talked about his visits since February to FIFA’s sponsors “at their headquarters, the first time a FIFA president had made such visits.”
He described his conversations in some cases as being “delicate” but emphasised his objective was “to regain the trust of commercial partners”.
None of this sounded like a man willing to hand over the business role that marked his core competencies in his previous job as general secretary of UEFA.
Infantino also spoke of the opportunity he had to bond with the confederations and member associations in Mexico City and the feeling of everyone “being together in harmony, united and with respect” even though these words may prove to be somewhat premature.
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