African Sports Monthly International Women's Day Special Edition | Page 23

Lydia Nsekera Africa’s Queen of Soccer

By Joel Chirwa

Bujumbura, Burundi: Before there was Isha Johansen from Sierra Leone there was Lydia
Nsekera. Ms. Nsekera is not just another woman in the sporting administration sphere. She is
a trailblazer; the first woman in the world to run a soccer federation successfully in male
chauvinistic Burundi.
She found her way into the world’s soccer governing body, International Federation of
Association Football (FIFA’s) executive committee after being elected in 2013 for a four-year
term, a term she will serve until 2017.
She achieved a feat that no woman had come close to in 109 years of FIFA’s history.

Her rise to international soccer administration circles was not the work of sheer luck but one
that was earned, as she is well versed in the trade of soccer administration according to
Afromum.

Her rise started when she reluctantly accepted the role of the President of the National
Burundi Federation because at the time the FFB had fallen foul with FIFA over misuse of
funds and to avoid some unpleasant sanctions some executive members came pleading to her
for her to step in and take the helm of power.