Edward Hanover, former chief compliance officer with FIFA. Photo: Vera Hartmann/FIFA.

Edward Hanover, who was FIFA's first chief compliance officer for the past three years, will become a partner at DLA Piper in Palo Alto on Sept. 3. He said he will focus on the sports, media and entertainment law practice.

In an interview with Corporate Counsel Thursday, Hanover said he left the Fédération Internationale de Football Association in Zurich, Switzerland, three weeks ago with mixed feelings. With 211 member associations from all over the globe, FIFA is the world's largest sports organization.

"Leaving was bittersweet, really," he said. "I would have liked to have spent one more year working with the member associations to help them further along, but this great opportunity opened up at DLA Piper for me to do what I was hoping to do with my career, and the timing was right for my family."

Hanover said he and his wife were ready to return to the U.S. after almost 10 years abroad, in time for their nearly 6-year-old son to start school here.

He regretted leaving FIFA on short notice, but said his superiors understood the importance of the opportunity to him. "I caught them a bit by surprise, but they were great about it and even toasted me when we were in France for the Women's World Cup."

He said one of his deputies, Vincent Denonville, has been named interim chief compliance officer while FIFA "considers how to organize the division in the future." FIFA did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Hanover praised his boss, Fatma Samoura, the first woman secretary general, who he said "wields significant influence on the world of football," and President Gianni Infantino, who instituted a policy of zero tolerance for wrongdoing. Both were appointed in early 2016 to clean up the rampant corruption in the organization, and they, in turn, hired Hanover in October 2016 to create the compliance division and implement policies. Their efforts helped persuade the U.S. Department of Justice to not criminally charge the organization when it charged past officers.

He said he accomplished 95% of what he wanted to do there. "I left FIFA in a good spot," he said. "Many of the major confederations have taken several steps forward. The next step would have been to help them become thought leaders in that space."

He said he believes "in sports, FIFA has the best compliance program in the world. Other industries may put more resources into theirs, but for sports FIFA is unquestionably the best."

Key issues that FIFA continues to grapple with include gender equity and adequate oversight for development funds. "FIFA recognizes the gender equity issue and is pushing heavily to advance the agenda in the right way," he said.

On development funds, Hanover said it's the same problem that plagues the U.S., the Red Cross and other entities that try to help developing countries. "When you are investing money in a country that has systemic political problems, how do you assure the money will be well spent. I worked three years on that issue, and it still requires a disproportionate amount of [the compliance department's] time."

At DLA he said he envisions working with sports organizations, big studios, corporations and universities, "helping them develop a best-in-class compliance program."

Besides FIFA, he said he has also helped two other organizations build compliance programs from scratch. "I've worked on every continent in the world," he said, "and I've seen most, if not all, of the things that can wrong. I can say, 'Here's what you need to focus on now.'"

Before joining FIFA, Hanover worked over a year in Singapore as head of compliance in emerging markets for Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Before Takeda, he spent over nine years with Novo Nordisk, first as a senior in-house counsel in Princeton, New Jersey, then as regional general counsel and senior director of legal, compliance and business development based in Zurich.

Previously he served as a law firm associate at Dechert and at Reed Smith, both in Philadelphia. Hanover received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where he said he will also serve as an adjunct professor this fall, teaching a weeklong course on modern compliance concepts.

"I have a unique experience base," Hanover explained. "It was unplanned in my career, but it has just turned out this way."