Fatma Samoura will leave her role as secretary general at Fifa at the end of the year in order to spend more time with her family.

Samoura became the first female, first black person, first Muslim and first non-European to be appointed as head of Fifa’s administration in 2016. Before working at Fifa, she had spent more than two decades working for the United Nations. She will still oversee the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand before leaving the organisation.

“It was the best decision of my life to join Fifa,” said Samoura.

“I am very proud to have led such a diverse team. Fifa today is a better governed, more open, more reliable and more transparent organisation. I will leave Fifa with a high sense of pride and fulfilment.

“For now, I am fully focused on the preparation and delivery of the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. From next year, I would like to spend more time with my family. I have been in love with football since I was eight years old and I feel honoured to have been on this journey.”

As well as helping oversee the delivery of several World Cup tournaments, Samoura has led a restructure at Fifa that includes the creation and development of a women’s soccer division, as well as undertaking a secondment overhauling CAF, the African soccer body.

“It has been a privilege and an honour to work with a trailblazer in the game,” added Fifa president Gianni Infantino. “Ever since we met, I knew she would be superb for Fifa.

“Her passion and enthusiasm to drive change has been inspirational. We respect Fatma’s decision and I would like to thank her for such dedication and commitment to football. Fatma will continue to contribute towards the development of the game and its social values together with us.”

Elsewhere, English top-flight club Everton have announced several departures from their leadership team, with chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale among those on the way out, as well as chief financial and strategy officer Grant Ingles. Non-executive director Graeme Sharp is also departing from the boardroom at Goodison Park after the Toffees barely avoided relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the 2022/23 season.

In other news, Valerie Camillo, the president and chief executive of Comcast Spectacor Sports & Entertainment, is to leave the company at the start of July. Comcast Spectacor, which owns the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Philadelphia Flyers, has also decided to promote several executives, with Blair Listino to now serve as chief administration and financial officer of the franchise. Todd Glickman has also been named chief revenue officer, while John Master has also been elevated to the position of chief legal and strategy officer.

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Appointments

Philippe Diallo
President, French Football Federation (FFF)
Note: Diallo had served as interim president of the FFF since February.

Florian Grill
President, French Rugby Federation (FFR)

Peter Nørrelund
Executive vice president and chief sports & sports business development officer, Viaplay
Note: Nørrelund had stepped down from the same role at Viaplay in late March and rejoins after the departure of chief executive Anders Jensen.

Ryan Spoon
President, Yahoo Sports
Previously: Chief operating officer, Sorare

Brady Stewart
Chief executive, Bay FC
Previously: Chief commercial officer, Forma Brands
Note: Stewart becomes the first chief executive of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) expansion team.

Chris McGowan
Executive vice president, chief club performance officer, Major League Soccer (MLS)
Previously: President and chief executive, Ilitch Sports + Entertainment

Neal Hubman
President, Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC)
Previously: Vice president, global client solutions, Reddit

Antonio Alquézar
Chief executive, Spain SailGP Team

Jake Edwards
Chief executive, Huddersfield Town
Previously: President, United Soccer League (USL)

Tony McDaid
Chief executive, Caledonian Gladiators

Jennifer Mastin Giglio
Senior vice president of communications and PR, Atlanta Braves
Previously: Senior vice president and chief communications officer, Washington Nationals

Feliciano López
Tournament director, Davis Cup finals

Martin Stewart
Chief executive, NEP Group
Previously: Chief financial officer, NEP Group
Note: Stewart replaces Brian Sullivan, who has stepped down as chief executive.

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Departures

Christian Purslow
Chief executive, Aston Villa Football Club

Olaf Schröder
Chief executive, Sport1
Note: Sport1 will be led by Matthias Kirschenhofer and Robin Seckler as co-chief executives.

Jean-Francois Jeanne
Managing director, Infront France
Note: Jeanne will be replaced by Alexis Zabel, who is currently Infront France’s senior director of sales.