FIFA president to visit Buhari, Ambode on July 24

Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, and Fatma Samoura, FIFA Secretary General, will arrive Nigeria on July 24, on a two-day working visit.

Infantino, who was elected at an extraordinary general assembly in Zurich on February 26, 2016, confirmed the trip after a meeting with Amaju Pinnick, the NFF president in Paris, France on Sunday.

“The FIFA President and Secretary General will arrive in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Sunday, July 24 on a two-day working visit to Nigeria,” Pinnick said.

During the two-day visit, Infantino and Samoura will pay a courtesy call to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

There will also be a meeting with a host of African FA presidents who are expected to join the NFF in receiving the FIFA topshots and attend an evening session with notable Nigerians in Lagos.

The duo will also meet with Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor of Lagos state before watching the finals of the NFF/ZENITH Bank Future Eagles Championship.

A welcome dinner put together by the League Management Company(LMC) is on the cards, and is expected to be attended by members of the diplomatic corps,

At the one-hour meeting involving Infantino, Samoura and select Nigerian officials, Solomon Dalung, minister of youth and sports, expressed Nigeria’s  readiness to receive the FIFA team.

54-year-old Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura was appointed FIFA Secretary General at the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City on May 12.

The Senegalese, who has wide experience working with the United Nations in several countries, is the first –ever woman to hold the position in FIFA’s 112-year history.

A few days after her appointment, Samoura welcomed Pinnick, Shehu Dikko, and NFF 2nd vice president/LMC chairman to a breakfast meeting at her UN office in Abuja.