Markus Kattner
Markus Kattner | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 24, 1970 Bayreuth, West Germany |
| Occupation(s) | Business consultant, football executive |
| Years active | 2003–2016 (FIFA) |
| Known for | Acting Secretary-General of FIFA (2015–2016), FIFA finance director |
Markus Kattner (born 24 September 1970 in Bayreuth, West Germany) is a business consultant with German and Swiss citizenship and a former executive in football administration. He became part of FIFA in 2003 as the finance director, after a prior career at McKinsey where he worked alongside Philippe Blatter, who is the nephew of then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Kattner held the position of acting Secretary-General of FIFA from September 2015 until May 2016, when he was abruptly removed amid accusations concerning the allocation of multimillion-dollar bonuses to himself during his time managing FIFA’s finances.
After his termination, Kattner pursued legal recourse against FIFA in Zurich, contesting that his dismissal lacked justification and was based on erroneous claims. In October 2022, the Zurich High Court ruled in his favor, determining that his immediate dismissal was unwarranted. This case underscores persistent issues related to governance and fiscal transparency within FIFA’s leadership structure.
Biography
Raised in Munich, Markus Kattner spent four years playing basketball at the second-tier level of the Basketball Bundesliga. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and earned a doctoral degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 1999.
Prior to his engagement with FIFA, Kattner served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Switzerland, where he collaborated with Philippe Blatter, relative of FIFA president Joseph Blatter, providing advisory services to the organization. In 2003, he was appointed FIFA’s finance director and later assumed the role of acting secretary-general in September 2015 following the dismissal of Jerome Valcke due to financial misconduct. Kattner himself was removed in May 2016 amid allegations regarding self-awarded multimillion-dollar bonuses spanning from 2008 to 2014. He challenged this decision legally, maintaining that his termination was unjust and that the bonus payments were consistent with FIFA regulations. In June 2020, following an inquiry into these bonus distributions, he received a ten-year ban from football activities and was fined CHF 1,000,000.
Personal life
Kattner possesses dual German-Swiss citizenship and is married with three daughters. He supports Bayern Munich and enjoys activities such as running, skiing, and piano playing.