FIFA’s Fatma Samoura says encountered racism, sexism

Fatma Samoura was the first woman to hold a senior role at FIFA when she took over from Jerome Valcke, who was sacked in January 2016

FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura said she encountered sexism and racism when she took over the job, with some in soccer opposed to a “black woman” taking a senior post at the global governing body.

FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura had taken over the position after Jerome Valcke had been sacked in January 2016. (Reuters)

The 55-year-old Senegalese was the first woman to hold a senior role at FIFA when she took over from Jerome Valcke, who was sacked in January 2016 as part of the fall-out from the corruption scandal that rocked the organisation.

Samoura said she had “broken the glass ceiling” in a “male-dominated organisation”, adding “they are used to me now”.

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“There are people who don’t think that a black woman should be leading the administration of FIFA. It’s sometimes as simple as that,” Samoura told the BBC.

“It is something we are fighting on a daily basis on the pitch - I don’t want any racist person around me.

“Nobody asks a man when he takes a position if he’s competent to do the job. They just assume that he can do the job.

“For a woman to make her way up to the top - you need to prove every single day that you are the best fit for that position.”