U.S. Soccer’s longtime chief executive, Dan Flynn, will leave the federation next week and be replaced by an interim successor while a search continues for outside candidates to run the organization, which is facing multiple lawsuits, including one by its world champion women’s team, and internal dissent.

Some of the powers long held by Flynn, 64, will shift in the short term to another U.S. Soccer insider, Brian Remedi. He currently serves as the federation’s chief stakeholders officer, a grandly named development and fund-raising role that has allowed him to build relationships with U.S. Soccer’s disparate bodies and committees.

Flynn’s desire to step down as chief executive was well known. After helping transform U.S. Soccer from a small-time governing body into a financial juggernaut with a $100 million annual budget and reserves of nearly twice that amount, he had a heart transplant in 2016, and most observers had expected him to leave after the 2018 World Cup. But when the United States men’s team stunningly failed to qualify for that tournament, the defeat precipitated searing criticism of the way U.S. Soccer was run and ushered in a divisive battle for the federation presidency that culminated in the election of Carlos Cordeiro in February 2018.

With Cordeiro thrust immediately into a central role traveling the world to promote the American-led bid to host the 2026 World Cup in North America, he first persuaded Flynn, a veteran hand, to stay on to provide a sense of continuity at the federation’s headquarters in Chicago.