FIFA's First Female Secretary General Fatma Samoura to Depart Role After Seven Years

FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura is leaving after seven years in the job.
Samoura was the first woman, first Black person, first Muslim and first non-European to be FIFA’s top administrator.
She will stay in the job through this year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and leave at the end of the year.
Samoura’s time in FIFA included helping oversee men’s World Cups played in Russia and Qatar, and awarding the 2026 edition that will be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA gave no details of a process to find a new secretary general, whose first year in the job will include campaigns and votes next year to pick hosts for the 2027 Women’s World Cup and men’s World Cup in 2030.