Fatma Samoura Is Stepping Down As FIFA Secretary General

Fatma Samoura, FIFA Secretary General, will step down at the end of the year after seven years of leading the organization through transformation, regaining credibility, and breaking down barriers.

According to FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura,

“It was the best decision of my life to join FIFA. I am very proud to have led such a diverse team. My first word of thanks goes to Gianni Infantino for giving me this dream job. He has shown trust, understanding and an incredible level of support. It is a pleasure to work alongside someone that has transformed FIFA. FIFA today is a better governed, more open, more reliable and more transparent organisation. I will leave FIFA with a high sense of pride and fulfilment.

“I had intended to share my news first with the FIFA Council members next week but I am aware there has been growing speculation about my position in recent months. For now, I am fully focused on the preparation and delivery of the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand”.

“I look forward to spending the next six months bringing to life the 11 objectives that President Infantino announced at the FIFA Congress in Kigali in March. From next year, I would like to spend more time with my family. I have been in love with football since I was eight years old and I feel honoured to have been on this journey.”

“It has been a privilege and an honour to work with a trailblazer in the game,” says FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Ever since we met, I knew she would be superb for FIFA. Her passion and enthusiasm to drive change has been inspirational”.

Fatma was the first woman, and the first African, to be appointed to such an important position at FIFA. We respect Fatma’s decision and I would like to thank her for such dedication and commitment to football. Fatma will continue to contribute towards the development of the game and its social values together with us.”

Fatma Samoura was a pathfinder from the moment she stepped into the Home of FIFA to take on her new role after she was appointed in May 2016 by recently-elected President Infantino. She was the first female and non-European to hold the position of head of FIFA’s administration. Since then, she has been in charge of women’s football’s unprecedented expansion.

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Fatma Samoura has been in charge of FIFA’s complete reorganization, which has included the appointment of two Deputy Secretary Generals, a Chief Compliance Officer, a new and fully developed Women’s Football Division, a Technical Development Division, and improved programs for FIFA’s 211 member associations.

She had worked for the United Nations for more than two decades and served in seven countries when she joined FIFA: Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Niger, Madagascar, Nigeria, and the Republic of Djibouti

She had often been struck by the way football, more than anything else, could convince warring groups to lay down their weapons and bring joy to people who were enduring terrible suffering while working in places that were impacted by war, violence, and a lack of women’s rights. She came to the realization that football is a universal language.