FIFA has appointed former marketing chief Jerome Valcke as their new general secretary.
Valcke will manage all business and football matters at Fifa. He succeeds Urs Linsi whose contract was not renewed after he fell out with a number of FIFA’s senior executives, as well as vice-president and Blatter ally Jack Warner.
Valcke was dismissed from his previous role after a legal dispute with MasterCard over sponsorship for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup.
Valcke was reinstated after a US appeal court overruled the original verdict, with FIFA claiming he had been ‘completely vindicated’ by the decision.
Last week, FIFA agreed to pay MasterCard £45million in compensation – £30million over the sponsorship dispute and £15million for the trademark dispute over the use of the twin globes which MasterCard claimed breached copyright of their own logo.
FIFA have also promoted finance director Markus Kattner to deputy general secretary to manage finance and administration.
