Fatma Samoura is facing a cruel end to her career. FIFA’s General Secretary, whose departure at the end of the year was announced last June by the world governing body, is likely to spend her last three months in Zurich dealing with current affairs. FIFA has already announced the name of his successor. So far, nothing very surprising. But he must assume his role “with immediate effect”. Sweden’s Mattias Grafström (pictured above), until now deputy general secretary, has moved up a notch in the hierarchy. On Wednesday 4 October, the governing body confirmed his appointment as interim general secretary. He joined FIFA in 2016 as deputy director of the legal department, and has risen through the ranks to become number 3. The Swede is considered to be a strong ally of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
