APA – Dakar (Senegal) – The Senegalese-born official, whose term of office at the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) comes to an end in December 2023, will receive the first ever World Football Summit Award for Excellence.
Fatma Samoura, the first non-European female Secretary General of FIFA, will be honored at the forthcoming Global Football Summit for her “remarkable achievements and influence on the future” of the world’s most popular sport. The event, the largest platform dedicated to the football industry, will be held in Seville, Spain, on 20 and 21 September 2023.
The World Football Summit and APO Group, the leading pan-African communications consultancy and press release Distribution Company, have chosen Fatma Samoura to celebrate her “exceptional contribution”
to the world of football.
“Her work has enriched both sport and society as a whole, highlighting the power of football as a catalyst
for positive change,” the two organizations said in a joint statement seen by APA.
“Fatma Samoura has made enormous efforts to shape the future of the football industry. We saw this for ourselves at the Global Football Summit, where she was an invaluable advisor. We couldn’t think of a better person to receive our first Lifetime Achievement Award. And we hope it will inspire other leaders to follow in Fatma’s footsteps,’ said Jan Alessie, a co-founder and director of the World Football Summit.
Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, founder and chairman of APO Group, said that Fatma Samoura is “a symbol of hope and empowerment for African women and girls. Her career illustrates the potential of African leaders to
bring about positive change on the international stage. She is a role model for the girls and women of Africa and a world leader from whom we can draw inspiration.”
Fatma Samoura worked for 21 years in the United Nations system, before putting her skills at the service of FIFA.
When her term of office as Secretary General expires in December 2023, she has expressed the wish to “spend more time with (her) family” and in particular her husband Amadou Samoura, whom she described as “a model of patience.”
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