CAF Names Nigeria-born Abi As 1st Woman COO

CAF Names Nigeria-born Abi As 1st Woman COO  

By Gbenga Gboyega

Abi Ijasanmi is one of the first female agents and administrators in Sports and has made strides over the years, owing to her involvement in Basketball, Football, and Athletics, to mention but a few, BSNSports.com.ng writes.

Nigeria-born Ijasanmi, who is a British citizen and Lawyer by profession, is one of the first female agents to spearhead salary negotiations, endorsements, and media deals for American Basketball players plying their trade in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Abi's legal experience spans over 10 years, with involvements in business development, talent representation, and player management, since joining Trans-Atlantic Sports marketing as an intern in 1998.

Three years on, Abi became responsible for representing talented players in the transfer market and to agencies, as diverse as Lebanon, Italy, Lithuania, and France in 2001.

Abi also has years of experience in overseeing player-team-media relations, plus providing the avenue for players under her purview to venture into foreign territories, and be valued professionally.

In 2006, Abi's expertise was summoned by Olympic Gold Medalist - Tessa Sanderson to provide legal and marketing consultancy to her newly created Sports Academy in the build-up to the 2012 London Games.

Speaking to GSport about her appointment as the first Woman Chief Operating Officer of the Confederation of Africa Football since 1957, Abi said it was both "accidental" and "aligning".

"I would say the appointment was both accidental and probably an alignment of purpose and intention," Abi started.

"The story summarizes that my CV landed in the hands of our General Secretary - Véron Mosengo-Omba, then I was invited to Cairo (Egypt's capital city and CAF's HQ venue) for an interview," she added.

"After the meeting, I was offered the role of the COO by the President of CAF - Patrice Motsepe."

Abi Ijasanmi is also a Sports tourist and enthusiast.