KEIR RADNEDGE in ITALY —- Another of FIFA’s senior directors has left the world football federation but Zvonimir Boban took the initiative himself, unlike so many others in the past three years

Boban, former Croatia captain and playmaker, has quit his role as FIFA’s deputy secretary general (football) to return to Milan, one of his old clubs, as chief football officer.

The 50-year-old’s decision has been diplomatically timed for a full week since president Gianni Infantino hailed his clean ‘New FIFA’ at the Paris congress which saw the 49-year-old Swiss lawyer re-elected.

Zvonimir Boban . . . ending three-year stint in Zurich

Boban’s decision is very much in character since he has always been very much his own man and his uncompromising approach to the sport and business meant that a FIFA tenure launched in mid-2016 was never going to be long-term.

FIFA said that the 50-year-old Croat’ “has been working as an adviser to the FIFA president on strategic football matters since 2016.”

‘Important projects’

Boban, in a statement issued by FIFA, said: “I feel honoured and privileged to have worked on such important projects to take FIFA back to its rightful place, far away from past scandals and a tarnished image. Looking back, I feel a real sense of accomplishment about my contribution to these big changes over the last three years.

“I have been entrusted with leading important projects such as the revamp of the FIFA Club World Cup and the successful bidding process for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM, as well as the revolutionary VAR project, which has managed to make the beautiful game fairer and protect its integrity.

“There may have been some debates along the way, but we have always upheld our motto of ‘Living Football’ and I will be eternally thankful to everyone.

“It is extremely difficult to leave FIFA, but I followed my heart and my passion when making this decision, as was the case when I accepted the challenge of joining FIFA.

“The people at AC Milan are my family and the city of Milan and Italy are my home. I have a burning desire to help this glorious club, which means so much to me, to return where it belongs.”

Infantino, silent after many other sudden departures, said: “I cannot thank Zvonimir enough for everything he has done for FIFA and football over the last three years by our side. His dedication to football and enthusiasm are incredible and he has been an invaluable asset for FIFA. Nobody embodies football better than he does and he has always worked for the good of the game.”

Boban’s career will come full circle when he attends the FIFA U-20 World Cup final in Poland together with Infantino. As an 18-year-old Boban won the FIFA World Youth Championship – the predecessor to the current tournament – with the former Yugoslavia in 1987. In the final he scored a crucial goal in 85thminute and then converted the winning penalty in the shoot-out.

World Cup breakthrough

After starring for Dinamo Zagreb he was sold to Milan with whom he won the Champions League and four Serie A titles. He also led Croatia to third place at the 1998 World Cup before retiring to a world of new opportunities.

He completed a history degree at the Univesrsity of Zagreb with a thesis concerning Christianity in the Roman Empire before stepping into the sports media as business manager of Sportske Novisti while developing a career as TV analyst which he duly transferred back to Italy.

Here he came across the world of football politics – and Infantino, then UEFA’s general secretary. This was the point at which Boban’s opinions about the governance of the game evolved.

He told AIPS earlier this year: “When I was player FIFA was some sort of strange, distant organisation which had nothing to do with us. It was just guys who showed up for the big matches and took some of the credit and maybe some of the money. Who knew?”

Boban’s early-career suspicions were not so far off the mark and he accepted that the corruption issues which crashed FIFA’s reputation will take “many more years to heal.” But he believes change to be under way and points to the fact that much recent controversy around FIFA issues had concerned not corruption but organisation of the shape of the game itself.

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