Strategic communications, FIFA; Switzerland
As the world governing body of association football, and the organiser of the biggest single-sport competition in the world, FIFA wields significant power and influence. As a result, we have a responsibility that stretches far beyond the game of football. Recent challenges we have faced on ethics and governance have put a spotlight on this responsibility, rendering the main theme of this Symposium even more poignant for FIFA. More than ever, we must ask ourselves what it is that makes our organisation “rich”; what “wealth” means to us.
Lefteris is part of the PR team within FIFA’s Corporate Communications department, where he is primarily responsible for the organisation’s sustainability communications and corporate messaging strategy.
Previously, he managed FIFA’s political relations with the EU as a member of FIFA’s Public Affairs department, having had his first experience in football administration in a compliance function at FIFA TMS GmbH.
Before moving to Zurich, he worked as a public affairs consultant for Brunswick Group LLP in Brussels, advising clients on a variety of policy areas. He has also carried out traineeships at U.S. law firm Mayer Brown LLP and in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Trade.
Lefteris was born in Canada to Greek parents, and raised in Belgium. He holds a law degree from King’s College London and a master’s degree in European public policy from the College of Europe in Bruges. He is fluent in French, Greek, Spanish and Italian, has a conversational level of Portuguese and wishes his German were better.