Jaffery was enlisted to the role by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and the NIF President expressed her excitement for future cooperation.

 "I am confident that Lubna Jaffery shares our ambition for everyone to have the opportunity to experience the joy of sports, and we look forward to achieving this together," said Al-Samarai.

Al-Samarai is also fairly new to her post after assuming office on June 4 this year to take over from Berit Kjøll.

She was elected following a landslide result against Kjøll with 138 votes to 29.

The 35-year-old is also a member of the Labour Party in Norway, like Jaffery, and paid tribute to the former Culture and Equality Minister Anette Trettebergstuen.

"President Zaineb Al-Samarai would like to thank Anette Trettebergstuen for a constructive and good cooperation with Norwegian sport in what has been a very demanding period characterised by, among other things, the pandemic, war in Europe, the power crisis and a general increase in costs and prices in society that has been demanding for very many sports teams," read an NIF statement.

Al-Samarai added that Trettebergstuen helped to solve some of the most difficult challenges in Norwegian sport.

Jaffery was State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture from 2009 to 2012 and has previously spoken about how volunteering has played an important role in her upbringing.

"For Norwegian sport, I'm sure it's an advantage that Jaffery has felt how important volunteering and sport are," said Al-Samarai.

"This means that we have a common understanding of several of the challenges facing sport."