Speaker Profile

Heimo Schirgi serves as Chief Event Operations Officer of FIFA and Chief Operations Officer for FIFA26 the delivery organisation in North America for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM. This dual role places him at the helm of planning and delivery for the FIFA World Cup – the flagship event of men’s world football – as well as FIFA’s wider global portfolio of tournaments and events.

Born in Austria and raised in Istanbul and Johannesburg, Heimo brings both a personal and professional breadth to his work. Fluent in German, Turkish and English, he draws on a rich cross-cultural background that informs his approach to organising major international sporting events.

His career spans continents and some of sport’s most ambitious operational challenges. He began in Switzerland with T.E.A.M. Marketing AG, supporting media-partner operations and commercial delivery. In the United Arab Emirates, he contributed to the establishment of a new professional football league gaining first-hand experience in fast developing football markets. Returning to Europe, Heimo served as Head of Operations for UEFA Events S.A. on UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. He later became Senior Vice President, Special Projects at DO & CO AG in Vienna, further strengthening his expertise in large-scale event delivery. After joining FIFA, Heimo assumed operational leadership for the FIFA World Cup, as well as for other key global tournaments and events.

The FIFA World Cup 2026TM will be the largest in the tournament’s history, hosted for the first time across three countries and featuring more participating teams than ever before. In this context, Heimo oversees areas including venue and city readiness, competition operations, broadcast implementation, mobility and safety coordination, ticketing and hospitality, and the alignment of a wide network of international stakeholders.

His leadership blends operational precision with global coordination, helping ensure that football’s biggest stages run seamlessly for teams, partners, fans and the billions of people watching around the world.

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