June 8 – With report after report implicating Gianni Infantino in the official investigation into the conduct of under-fire Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber, FIFA has been forced again to respond by issuing a pointed statement defending its president and dismissing any notion of wrongdoing.
Much-publicised undocumented meetings between Lauber and Infantino are increasingly endangering the latter’s credibility. Additionally a criminal complaint was recently filed with the regional prosecutor’s office in Bern, Switzerland against Infantino himself.
Late on Saturday night FIFA was quoted by Swiss media as pouring cold water over the entire affair.
“FIFA vehemently rejects any allegations of misconduct by its president at meetings with Federal Attorney Lauber”, said a brief statement that described reporting of the saga as having “reached an unacceptable level”.
FIFA has repeatedly argued that Infantino met Lauber immediately after his election in spring 2016 to assure him of his willingness to cooperate fully with any corruption probe.
In mid-May FIFA was keen to stress that, far from being a party to corruption, Infantino was trying to weed it out. “Meeting with prosecutors is a standard procedure not a crime. Making a complaint against someone for meeting a prosecutor is a farce,” FIFA said in a strongly worded statement at the time.
But there remains continued suspicion over what lay behind Infantino’s dealings with Lauber who has been sanctioned for disloyalty, lying and breaching his office’s code of conduct and is facing impeachment proceedings. Plus, Lauber has apparently been questioned about possible collusion with Infantino.
One possible explanation for the media release sent at the weekend, according to Swiss media, is that the opening of criminal proceedings could have serious consequences for Infantino. If a special prosecutor is installed by the Canton, the FIFA Ethics Committee has no other option than to suspend Infantino, temporarily, according to its own statutes.
It is a situation Infantino has benefitted from himself in the past, when Michel Platini’s suspension opened the door for his own run at the FIFA presidency.
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