April 2 – FIFA has a new communications chief after announcing that Portugal national team spokesman Onofre Costa has taken over from Fabrice Jouhaud, who has led its media department since August 2016 when he arrived from l’Equipe broadcasting.
“We welcome Onofre on board, while expressing our heartfelt gratitude to Fabrice for his years of good services and wishing him success in his future endeavors,” FIFA said in a statement.
Costa, a familiar face to the international media, joins FIFA at a particularly busy and sensitive time for the organisation amid intensive dialogue over FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plans for an expanded 24-team Club World Cup and his re-election, unopposed, in Paris in June.
He is the third head of communications in four years and is particularly well-known to Infantino after acting as a consultant during his successful campaign to succeed Sepp Blatter and land the FIFA presidency in 2016.
Costa was also instrumental in promoting the failed bid by Portugal and Spain to win co-hosting rights to the 2018 World Cup having worked on media strategy. FIFA described him as a “seasoned executive with extensive experience in the world of football administration.”
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