Nigerian football administrator, Samson Adamu, has been appointed as the substantive General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
How Adamu became CAF General Secretary
By the appointment, his leadership of the continental football governing body’s secretariat has been formalised, after serving in an acting capacity since March.
CAF announced the appointment on Sunday, following a recruitment exercise that involved advertising the position and interviewing several candidates.
Adamu assumed the acting role following the resignation of his predecessor, Veron Mosengo-Omba, who subsequently became President of the football federation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, stated in a release that the appointment followed a competitive selection process.
He further described Adamu as an experienced administrator with considerable knowledge of African football.
Samson Adamu is the son of Amos Adamu, a former Director of Sports in the then Ministry of Sports and a former member of the FIFA Executive Committee.
The new CAF General Secretary has been part of CAF’s administrative structure since 2018, when he joined as Director of Competitions.
He later served as Director of Tournaments and Events, overseeing the organisation and delivery of major continental football competitions, including the Africa Cup of Nations.
His appointment has placed a Nigerian in one of the most influential administrative positions in African football.
He is charged with the responsibility of coordinating CAF’s day-to-day operations and supporting the implementation of its strategic priorities.
Adamu is a graduate of the FIFA Master programme in International Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, an academic qualification that focused on the administration and business of sports.
His emergence also came against the backdrop of a history of family succession in CAF’s General Secretary position, previously occupied by three members of Egypt’s Fahmy family:
Mourad Fahmy served from 1961 to 1982; Mustapha Fahmy, from 1982 to 2010; and Amr Fahmy held the position between 2017 and 2019.
Adamu’s confirmation marked a significant career milestone for the Nigerian administrator, who is now in charge of the secretariat of the African football governing body.
With the confirmation, Samson Adamu became the first Nigerian to hold the position on a permanent basis since the governing body was founded in 1957.
He had served in an acting capacity since March 29, when he replaced Swiss-Congolese administrator Veron Mosengo-Omba.
His confirmation completed a rise through CAF’s competitions department to the job overseeing its day-to-day administration.
Adamu’s road to continental football administration began in the private sector, where he spent a decade as a director at Kinetic Sport Management.
He founded the Copa Lagos beach soccer tournament and served as its chief executive until February 2018, before moving to CAF.
Launched in 2011, Copa Lagos brought international beach soccer teams to Nigeria, combining the competition with entertainment.
Adamu’s work on the tournament preceded Nigeria’s hosting of the 2016 African Beach Soccer Cup of Nations.
Before building that events business, Adamu studied business management and computer science at the American University of Paris.
He is also from a family with a long history in Nigerian sports administration.
His father, Amos Adamu, served as sole administrator of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) in the early 1990s, and later held senior government positions, including Director of Sports Development and Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC).
The elder Adamu headed the Organising Committee for the 2003 All-Africa Games in Abuja.
His work also included roles in Nigeria’s hosting of the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship and its joint staging of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana.
He served on CAF’s Executive Committee and was elected to FIFA’s Executive Committee in 2006, before becoming President of the West Africa Football Union in 2008.
Adamu joined CAF as director of competitions in 2018 and subsequently served as director of tournaments and events, before taking over the general secretariat.
CAF announced at the time of Mosengo-Omba’s departure that he would hold the position temporarily while it undertook the process of appointing a permanent successor.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) welcomed the appointment, as the acting General Secretary, Emmanuel Ikpeme, have an assurance of the Federation of support for Adamu as he takes permanent charge of the Cairo, Egypt-based football organisation.
Ikpeme was quoted to have said in a statement: “This is, indeed, very good news. I am so happy for Samson Adamu on his confirmation and I know he is going to make Nigeria and Africa proud.
“He is a highly-knowledgeable individual who has never stopped improving himself, and he is well-rounded in the business of football administration.”
The BFF has promised to back Adamu in his role as the new CAF General Secretary.
“The NFF is delighted and very pleased with this appointment, and we will give him all the necessary support as a Member Association under CAF.
“We wish him tremendous success in the job,” Ikpeme had said.
