FIFA pioneer no stranger to crises

Fatma Samoura, FIFA's first-ever female secretary general, might be an outsider in the world of soccer, but she is hoping her two decades of experience as a UN diplomat will help her restore the sport's "tarnished image".

"My goal is to support the program of president Gianni (Infantino) and to help football restore its tarnished image," said the Senegalese UN diplomat, who on Friday was named second-in-command of global soccer's ruling body.

"And to those who speak of my lack of experience, I say give me the time to prove myself," she said in a telephone interview from Nigeria, where she was representing the United Nations Development Program at a summit to discuss efforts to defeat Boko Haram Islamists.