October 6 – Matthias Grafstöm of Sweden has become the new FIFA secretary general on an interim basis, making him, on paper, the second-most powerful man in the world football governing body.
In a statement, FIFA said: “The FIFA Council also approved the appointment of FIFA deputy secretary general–football, Matthias Grafström, as FIFA secretary general ad interim with immediate effect.”
FIFA clarified that the Swedish administrator will take control of the general secretariat immediately with Fatma Samoura taking leave until the end of her contract which runs out in December.
Grafström (pictured), who has a background in sports management, joined FIFA in 2016 as chief of staff in the president’s office. He is seen as a close ally of the FIFA president (his mother worked at UEFA at the same time Infantino was at UEFA) but will be expected to execute his role in a more performant manner than the controversial Samoura.
Grafström is expected to become the secretary general on a permanent basis.
His appointment will send a shiver down the spines of a good number of national federation presidents. Grafstrom was not afraid to use the power of the FIFA Ethics function to enforce non-aligned presidents into line.
See: FIFA waited 5 months before using Ethics ban blackmail on Bility
His appointment brings to a close the reign of Samoura, who became the first female and black secretary general of the organization in 2016. She came to Zurich from the United Nations and the FIFA president has described her as a ‘trailblazer in the game’, but how Samoura contributed to the development of the game remains a mystery.
Infantino picked Samoura as general secretary soon after being made president, announcing her to the surprise of the FIFA Congress in Mexico. No formal recruitment process was conducted before she assumed her million dollar position. It seems the same has happened with Grafstrom’s appointment.
Interestingly he has been appointed ahead of another Infantino long term supporter Alasdair Bell, who reportedly spends more time in his home country of Scotland working remotely.
Samoura traveled the world for much of the past seven years, live-tweeting from a range of FIFA tournaments as well as speaking at numerous diversity conferences.
Recently, Samoura won two awards – a lifetime award at the World Football Summit and a legacy award at the Best of Africa Awards. Both awards involved APO, a communications partner of FIFA. Samoura will depart Zurich, having earned, by conservative estimates, in excess of $13 million.
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