Geneva - FIFA's new general secretary,
Fatma Samoura, said on Friday her priority was restoring trust including among
the organisation's corporate sponsors, with FIFA in "a very turbulent
moment" after more than a year of scandal.
Samoura took over as the number two at
world football's governing body last month, after her appointment by President
Gianni Infantino.
"The reputational damage that all the
financial scandals have caused to FIFA needs to be repaired," Samoura was
quoted as saying in an interview with FIFA's in-house magazine.
"I need to restore the trust and
confidence of our partners and our commercial affiliates," she added.
Massive World Cup sponsors like Visa and
Coca Cola were among the most powerful voices calling for sweeping reform as
the graft that plagued ex-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter's administration came to
light.
Samoura spent 21 years at the United
Nations Development Programme before being hired by Blatter's replacement Infantino
in May.
Her two immediate predecessors in the
general secretary's job - Markus Kattner and Jerome Valcke - were both sacked
over corruption.
Samoura has been tasked with day-to-day
management of a massive reform drive implemented by FIFA in response to a web
of unprecedented scandals that have brought down the most powerful names in
world football.
A key plank of the reform plan is boosting
the role of women in football management.
"I'll be personally having a much closer look at applications from women for senior positions in FIFA," Samoura said.