Meeting today in Madrid under the chairmanship of FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, the FIFA Executive Committee has unanimously approved by acclamation the appointment of Dr Urs Linsi (Switzerland) as FIFA General Secretary. Linsi, also FIFA Director of Finance, had been leading the FIFA administration as Acting General Secretary at the request of the executive since 28 June 2002.

FIFA President Blatter welcomed the appointment. ‘I am delighted that the Executive Committee has concurred with my proposal and confirmed Urs Linsi in the role of FIFA General Secretary. Over the last six months, he has proven his ability, not only in his expert area of finance, but also in his efforts to restructure the FIFA general secretariat.’

Urs Linsi was similarly delighted by the news. ‘I would like to thank the President and the FIFA Executive Committee for this vote of confidence. I will do everything in my power to ensure that FIFA continues to move in the
direction already agreed upon by FIFA’s competent bodies.’

Linsi is the successor to Michel Zen-Ruffinen, whose contract of employment was terminated by the FIFA Executive Committee on 4 July 2002.

Urs Linsi is the eighth FIFA General Secretary. A list of his predecessors and a short biography can be found on the next page.

Dr Urs Linsi, FIFA General Secretary (appointed 17 December 2002 in Madrid)
Surname: LINSI
First name: Urs
Date of birth: 29 June 1949
Civil status: married, three children
Nationality: Swiss
Qualifications: doctorate in economics HSG (St Gall University, Switzerland)

Urs Linsi worked for Crédit Suisse in leading positions for over twenty years. Since July 1999, he has been responsible for financial matters at FIFA as the Director of Finance. On 1 January 2000, he was appointed Deputy
General Secretary.

Linsi speaks German, English and French. During his career he undertook a variety of courses for his professional advancement, including the Wharton Advanced Management Program at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
(USA) in 1998.

He once played football for teams in lower division amateur leagues in Switzerland and at university but was forced to give football up after sustaining a serious knee injury. This did not prevent him from acting as a referee for another two years.

In the mid-1980s he took up endurance sport, making a name for himself as founder and president of the ‘Powerman Duathlon’ in Switzerland. He took part in the triathlon world championship in Hawaii in 1988 and was regarded
as instrumental in promoting this type of sport as the organiser of world championships and world cup events.
Interests: skiing, endurance sport, concerts, reading.

Previous FIFA General Secretaries:
Louis MUHLINGHAUS (BEL) 1904-1906
Carl Anton Wilhelm HIRSCHMANN (NED) 1906-1931
Dr Ivo SCHRICKER (GER) 1932-1954
Kurt GASSMANN (SUI) 1951-1960
Dr Helmut KÄSER (SUI) 1961-1981
Joseph S. BLATTER (SUI) 1981-1998
Michel ZEN-RUFFINEN (SUI) 1998-2002

For more details contact:

Andreas Herren
Fifa Communications
T: +41 1 254 9800
F: +41 1 384 9696