At Sport for Business we have long championed the fact that Women’s role in the governance of sport was a long way short of ideal, and of what is normal in other areas of live. We contended that this would change and that a wave of change was likely to break soon.
At the weekend that became more real when FIFA announced that Senegalese United Nations Director Fatma Samoura was to take over the role of Secretary General of FIFA, effectively the organisations CEO.
Samoura, who is also the first non-European to hold the post, replaces Jérôme Valcke, who was banned from all soccer-related activity for 12 years in February.
Samoura, 54, is currently the UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Nigeria. Her appointment is expected to take effect this summer and one of her first key roles will be to oversee the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup.
“Fatma is a woman with international experience and vision who has worked on some of the most challenging issues of our time,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
“She has a 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 another decision that will have a direct impact on the FAI and the IFA, the decision was taken to increase the amount of money paid by FIFA to each national association from a current ¢1.6 million to $5 million over each five year cycle.
This will be specifically targeted towards football development projects and part of the return will be the need for all association to publish audited financial accounts.
