November 9: Emilio García Silvero, FIFA’s head of legal affairs for the past eight years, and the world governing body have parted ways.
The Spaniard becomes the second high-profile departure from FIFA after Kevin Lamour, who left the organization over Gianni Infantino’s World Cup investor plans. Carlos Cordeiro, a former US Soccer president and FIFA’s key liaison to the White House for the 2026 World Cup, also left his role as an adviser to the FIFA president.
García Silvero led key regulatory changes in global football, overseeing the implementation of a new international transfer system, updated agent regulations and an international payments clearinghouse. Garcia will start a new role in Madrid.
García had previously worked with Infantino at UEFA and followed him to Zurich two years after the 2016 presidential election.
In a statement, FIFA wrote: “Since joining FIFA at the 2018 World Cup, Emilio has actively contributed to the development and modernization of the regulatory framework governing international football.
“During his tenure as an executive, he led a team of professionals in the Zurich and Miami offices, leading major projects, regulatory reforms, educational initiatives and programs aimed at strengthening transparency, legal certainty and access to information on football rules and regulations.”
The world governing body said its head of soccer regulations, Jan Kleiner, will take interim charge of the legal and compliance departments in Miami.
Garcia’s departure will be a blow to Infantino as it comes as the FIFA president still faces criticism and demands for accountability and transparency over his abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal. Garcia was one of Infantino’s inner circle who eventually backed Infantino at the hasty meeting of FIFA’s top executives called by Infantino in Morocco just after the FFE news broke in late July.
Garcia was one of the few FIFA staff to question Infantino’s involvement in allowing Donald Trump to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card.
Last week, Infantino, however, received support from the Caribbean Football Union. The FIFA coach left to attend the U-17 Women’s World Cup final in Morocco, where Nigeria clinched the youth title.
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