Adamu unveils agenda as CAF's Acting General Secretary
Samson Adamu, the newly appointed Acting General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has pledged to leave a lasting legacy at the helm of African football’s administration. Adamu
- Our Reporters
Samson Adamu, the newly appointed Acting General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has pledged to leave a lasting legacy at the helm of African football's administration.
Adamu was named CAF Acting General Secretary on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at the CAF Executive Committee meeting held at the Giza Palace Hotel in Cairo. His appointment was proposed by CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe and ratified by the Executive Committee.
He becomes the first Nigerian — and the first West African — to hold the position in the 69-year history of the continental governing body.
"I am elated by this appointment. I am determined to serve African football with humility, integrity, and professionalism," Adamu told thenff.com.
Adamu's passion for football was evident from an early age. Fifteen years ago, he launched COPA Lagos — an invitational beach soccer tournament that drew top teams from around the world to Nigeria's commercial capital. The event set premium standards in administration, logistics, marketing, officiating and publicity, and was so successful that CAF subsequently awarded Nigeria the hosting rights for the 2016 CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nations.
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That drive and diligence earned him a role at CAF headquarters in Cairo, where he served as Director of Competitions before rising to Director of Tournaments and Events.
Adamu is the son of Dr Amos Adamu, a towering figure in Nigerian sports administration and African football for more than two decades. The elder Adamu served as Sole Administrator of the then Nigeria Football Association (now the Nigeria Football Federation) in the early 1990s, and as Director of Sports Development in the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Dr Amos Adamu also served as chief organiser of the 8th All-Africa Games, hosted by Nigeria in 2003. He had won election to the CAF Executive Committee in Bamako, Mali the previous year, and was re-elected on the margins of the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
In 2006, he won election to the FIFA Executive Committee and later served as Director General of the National Sports Commission. He also played key roles in Nigeria's hosting of the FIFA World Youth Championship — now the FIFA U-20 World Cup — in 1999, and the country's co-hosting of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana.
