Orlando City SC has named Ricardo Moreira the club’s new director of scouting.
Moreira was most recently the head of player recruitment and the international relations manager at Columbus Crew SC. He also used to be the scouting director for Brazil’s Grêmio Osasco Audax Esporte Clube.
Moreira will report directly to General Manager Niki Buldalić and “will support all player relations and recruitment matters for Orlando City,” according to the club.
According to Orlando City SC, Moreira was also part of a team that negotiated the naming rights deal for Allianz Parque in São Paulo and has provided legal advice regarding contracts and FIFA regulations for different organizations in Brazil.
Budalić led the search for a scouting director and said in an interview with Pro Soccer USA that hiring a scouting director was about having a more comprehensive and complete scouting structure. The position was posted in September, and Budalić provided an update on the search at the start of October.
Moreira holds a law degree from the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo and an MBA in sports management from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. Moreira also went to Towson University in Maryland.
The hiring was first reported by ESPN Brasil’s Jorge Nicola.