The Federation of International Football Association(FIFA) on May 13 2016 oppointed Senegalise  Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura , the current  United Nations Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria as FIFA Secretary General (SG).

 President Gianno Infantino announces Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura as the  first FIFA woman Secretary General.

The announcement was made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City. She is  expected to assume the role by mid June .

Infantino praised Samoura’s  international experience coupled with integrity, accountability and transparency that he says are vital for avery well run-up organisation .

“Fatma is a woman with international experience, vision and has worked on some of the most challenging issues of our time,” he said.

“She has a proven ability to build and lead teams , improve the  organisations’ performance and understands that transparency and accountability are needed for an organisation” Infantino added.

He said that its vital  for FIFA to incorporate fresh perspectives from outside the traditional pool of football executives as we continue to restore and rebuild our organisation .

“No one exemplifies what we need more than Fatma does and we are thrilled that she has joined our team” he opined.

Samoura  started her  UN career as a senior logistics officer with the World Food Programme in Rome in 1995 . Since then , she  has served as country representative or director in six countries of Republic of Djibouti, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Madagascar and Nigeria. She speaks French (her mother tongue), English, Spanish and Italian.

“Today is a wonderful day for me, and I am honoured to take on the role of FIFA’s Secretary General   which I believe  is  perfect and 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” , she said.

“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. FIFA is taking a fresh approach to its work and am eager to play a role in making that approach as effective and lasting as possible ,” she added .

Samoura earned her Masters Degree in English and Spanish at the University of Lyon and a Post-Masters Degree in international relations/international trade from the Institut d’Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (IECS)- Strasbourg-France.

In her current UN role in Nigeria, she has a wide of range of responsibilities which includes ;budgeting, human resources,  procurement, among others. She coordinates the activities of approximately 2,000 staff members, monitors and evaluates the security, political and socio-economic situation and trends in Africa’s most populous country.

Prior to joining the UN, Ms Samoura spent eight years in the private sector, working in the fertiliser trading sector for Senchim, a subsidiary of Industries Chimiques du Senegal. Her areas of responsibility included product export and import programmes, tenders, and the establishment of a national distribution network.