Fifa communications director Walter De Gregorio has been sacked after sealing his fate with a joke about the governing body on Swiss TV.
Gregorio told Swiss chat show Schawinski: “The Fifa president, secretary general and communications director are all travelling in a car. Who’s driving? The police.”
Fifa announced in a statement that De Gregorio had “relinquished his office”.
But the BBC understands he was asked to leave by president Sepp Blatter.
Blatter himself announced earlier this month that he would stand down as Fifa president following a new election, just two days after winning re-election for a fifth term.
That followed the arrest of seven top Fifa officials in a massive FBI corruption probe.
De Gregorio, who has held the role since September 2011, is also understood to have clashed with Blatter after a disagreement with one of his allies.
The 50-year-old was unhappy with an article in a Swiss magazine called Klein Report in which he was criticised by Klaus J Stohlker, a PR professional utilised on an ad-hoc basis by Blatter.
He is then understood to have confronted Blatter and asked him whether he agreed with the views expressed by Stohlker.
Fifa said in its statement that De Gregorio would remain with the organisation on a consultancy basis until the end of the year.
