Collection: Mel Brennan

Mel Brennan served as Head of Special Projects for CONCACAF from 2001 to 2003, and as one of five North American delegates to the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. He appears in the Netflix series FIFA Uncovered as one of a small number of former football insiders willing to speak on the record — and the only one from North America. He remains the highest-ranked African-American in the history of world football governance.

A co-author of Sport, Revolution and the Beijing Olympics (Berg, 2008) with Grant Jarvie and Tony Hwang, Mel has spent over two decades levying a comprehensive critique of sport governance, the flawed relationship between sport and human rights, and what citizens deserve from their sporting culture.

His career spans an unusually wide arc. He began as a Confidential Investigator with New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board before moving into general management with global brands including Sega GameWorks, WWFE, and the Walt Disney Company. He has since led organisations across the nonprofit and public sectors, including as CEO of the Fuel Fund of Maryland, CEO of the United Way of Southern Maryland, and COO of the Ridgewood YMCA. He served as Deputy Director of the Office of Compliance Consultants at Rikers Island, working under FIFA vs Mastercard judge Loretta Preska.

Mel pursued a PhD (ABD) in sport and human rights at the University of Stirling, taught within the University System of Maryland, curated TEDxBaltimore in 2011, and has written on sport corruption for outlets including Trinidad's Wired868. His commentary has been noted by ESPN's Gabriele Marcotti and by Deadspin, among others.