Fatma Samoura will step down as general secretary of the world football association FIFA at the end of the year. FIFA announced this on Wednesday. The Senegalese had taken up the post in May 2016 as the first woman and non-European.
Big bang at FIFA, problem for Gianni Infantino: The controversial president of the world football association lost his confidant and closest colleague Fatma Samoura at the end of the year. After seven years in office, the current FIFA Secretary General has announced her resignation, explaining her decision for private reasons.
Exact reasons for Samour’s withdrawal unknown
“From next year I want to spend more time with my family. I’ve been in love with football since I was eight years old and I’m honored to have been part of this journey,” Samoura said in an official statement to the public on Wednesday surprise retreat. The job at FIFA was the “best decision of her life”, Samoura was quoted as saying. Nothing was known about the exact reasons for her departure.
Infantino called the 60-year-old Senegalese a “football pioneer” and added: “I want to thank her for her dedication and commitment. Her passion and enthusiasm for driving change were inspiring.”
Four months after the Swiss took office in February 2016, the married mother of three children joined FIFA. Previously, Samoura, the first woman and first non-European to head FIFA’s general secretariat, had worked for the United Nations for more than two decades. She actually didn’t want to announce her retirement until next week at the FIFA Council, but has now spoken out earlier than planned because of “growing speculation” about her position, it said in a statement.
Samoura’s successor not yet decided
It is currently unclear who will succeed Samoura. The association’s internal opinions about the retiring top manager were and are divided. Samoura received a lot of incomprehension for the brisk advancement of Infantino’s plans, which have since been rejected, to hold a soccer World Cup every two years.
On the other hand, the English graduate is said to have played a key role in preventing a TV blackout at the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday. What she didn’t succeed in: As the manager of a world association shaken by numerous corruption scandals, Samoura also attracted unpleasant attention, FIFA paid absurd amounts of cleaning costs for her apartment. After auditors noticed the corresponding transfers, she silently paid the money back.
Position taken over by Jérôme Valcke in 2015
The former diplomat took over the post from Jérôme Valcke, who was relieved of his duties at the world association in September 2015. The Frenchman was initially banned for twelve years for violating the world association’s code of ethics on several points before the sentence was reduced by two years. He was accused at the time of being involved in the resale of World Cup tickets and not cooperating with the FIFA investigation.