Mattias Grafström was born on 24 September 1980 in Geneva, Switzerland, to a Swedish father and a Dutch mother. Raised in France, he started his career in football as a child at the local club in his village, Étoile Sportive de Péron. Passionate about sports - he was a Swiss youth table tennis champion and completed several cross-country ski marathons – and football in particular, he shifted at a young age from playing on the field to focusing on football administration when he received an opportunity in 1997 to work in the Media department of UEFA. He quickly followed with an internship in the summer of 1998 at the Swedish Football Association. Fluent in Swedish, Dutch, French, English, German and Spanish, he continued to work for UEFA at its headquarters and during its major events on a regular basis until 2004, simultaneously completing his university education with two master’s degrees: one in information and communication systems at the University of Geneva, and one in sports management and technology at the AISTS in Lausanne. He returned to UEFA in 2008 where he held several roles within the organisation, starting at UEFA Media Technologies and ending in 2016 as the Senior Manager of the Executive Office. Also in 2008, he worked for the Norwegian Football Association as a press officer for the Norwegian team at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ in Chile. Following the election of Gianni Infantino as FIFA President in February 2016, he joined FIFA as Chief of Staff. In 2019, he took on the role of Deputy Secretary General (Football), responsible for overseeing all football matters. After being named Secretary General ad interim in October 2023, he was formally appointed as Secretary General of FIFA by the FIFA Council on 15 May 2024.
