Markus Kattner (born 24 September 1970 in Bayreuth,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

- Swiss business consultant and former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

executive. He served as acting

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of FIFA from September 2015 to May 2016, but was sacked after being accused of paying himself bonuses worth millions of

US Dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

s during a previous stint as FIFA's director of Finance. Markus Kattner has begun legal proceedings against FIFA before the competent court in Zurich as he believes his dismissal to be unjustified.

Biography

Markus Kattner grew up in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and for four years he played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

of the '' Basketball Bundesliga''. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering from the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

(TUM) and completed a doctorate degree at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

(EPFL, 1999). Before joining FIFA, Kattner worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Switzerland along Philippe Blatter, a nephew of FIFA's president

Joseph Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result o ...

, and the pair worked together while advising the Federation. In 2003, he joined FIFA as director of Finance and in September 2015, when Jerome Valcke was sacked for financial irregularities, Kattner took over as acting secretary-general. Kattner himself was sacked in May 2016, after being accused of paying himself bonuses worth millions of

s over a six-year period (2008–2014). Markus Kattner has begun legal proceedings against FIFA before the competent court in Zurich as he believes his dismissal to be unfair, maintaining that the compensation payments were perfectly above board and did not break a single FIFA statute. In June 2020, he received a 10 years ban from football and was fined the amount of CHF 1,000,000 after an investigation into bonus payments.

Personal life

Kattner has German-Swiss

dual nationality Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

and is married with three daughters. He is a Bayern Munich supporter and also likes running, skiing and playing the piano.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kattner, Markus FIFA officials German men's basketball players 1970 births Technical University of Munich alumni École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne alumni McKinsey & Company people People from Bayreuth German football chairmen and investors Swiss football chairmen and investors Living people