November 3 – Gianni Infantino, already being investigated by the Swiss authorities who have opened criminal proceedings against him, has been caught up in yet another saga which could potentially further undermine his credibility.
Infantino, currently self-isolating having tested positive for Covid-19, is the subject of a complaint filed on October 26 with the International Olympic Committee.
Swiss sports management company Sport 7, first reported by Le Monde in France, is behind the complaint which calls for Infantino to be suspended from the IOC for breaching the Olympic charter.
The accusation is that Infantino has broken “la charte olympique, des principes universels de base de bonne gouvernance du mouvement olympique et sportif, ainsi que du code d’éthique du CIO”.
Philippe Renz, a lawyer and a principal partner at Sport 7, said that when it comes to player representation and agency, in particular in relation to the transfer regulations, “the management of FIFA and its President are violating a whole host of provisions protecting sport, its integrity and that of the athletes.”
Looking at examples, Renz references the Olympic Charter, where the obligations of IOC members are set out in Chapter 16 / 2.1 (p. 33), with in particular the obligation “to comply with the Olympic Charter, the Code of Ethics and other regulations of the IOC”. The Olympic Charter provides in Charter 1 / 2 the IOC role and mission, and with the provisions he says are violated by Infantino as being points 1, 4, 11, 12, 18 (p. 16-17). One of them is to “oppose any political or commercial abuse of sport and athletes”.
In the Code of ethics, he says Infantino is “at least” in violation of Articles 2, 6 and 11 (p. 15, 16, 17), says Renz.
Infantino was only admitted as an IOC member in January of this year.
Infantino has consistently rubbished the Swiss criminal investigation against himself even though special prosecutor Stefan Keller said he had found “elements that make up reprehensible behaviour” linked to those infamous meetings the FIFA president had with former Swiss attorney Michael Lauber in 2016 and 2017 that led to the latter’s resignation from the most in August.
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