FIFA named an African woman with no experience in soccer administration as its second most powerful official. This is one of the changes made by the sport’s ruling body to move on from a major corruption scandal. However, FIFA’s Congress also passed a resolution which gives its board, known as the FIFA Council, the power to fire the heads of its independent committees at almost any time.

Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura of Senegal, the United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative in Nigeria, was appointed as secretary general and will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation. Samoura’s appointment was announced by president Gianni Infantino, hosting his first Congress since he was elected in February to lead the scandal-plagued federation out of its crisis.

The Congress was the first since FIFA passed a raft of reforms aimed at avoiding a repeat of the corruption scandal that has seen 42 soccer officials and entities indicted in the United States.

Samoura, 52, replaces Frenchman Jerome Valcke who was fired in January and has since been banned for 12 years for ethics violations that included using FIFA expenses for sightseeing trips and destruction of evidence. Her appointment was suggested by Infantino and approved by the FIFA Council.

Samoura began her United Nations career with the World Food Programme in Rome in 1995 and has served as a representative or director in six African countries.