Fifa President Gianni Infantino is now under suspicion in the Swiss justice affair. The public prosecutor’s office opened criminal proceedings against the head of the world football association on Thursday. For Fifa, this could turn into the greatest crisis since the scandals of the Joseph Blatter era.
The proceedings are about secret meetings between Infantino and the head of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Michael Lauber, as the supervisory authority of the BA announced on Thursday in Bern. The allegations against Infantino are incitement to abuse of office, incitement to breach of official secrecy and incitement to favor. A senior public prosecutor present at the meetings is also charged.
Just over a month ago, Infantino presented himself with confidence and said the meetings were necessary. “For me this whole thing is absurd,” said the 50-year-old at a press conference. “Let me make that clear once and for all: meeting the Swiss federal prosecutor is absolutely legitimate and legal. It is not a violation of anything. ”At first there was no reaction from Fifa.
Infantino, who has always presented himself as an innovator and reformer since he took office in February 2016, could temporarily face adversity in his office as FIFA President. When the Swiss BA opened criminal proceedings in 2015 against the then world association leader Blatter, among other things, on suspicion of improper business management, this was blocked for 90 days by the Fifa ethics committee. The proceedings are still ongoing.
Now more than a year after his re-election as Fifa President, Infantino is more difficult than ever to explain. The secret meetings took place in 2016 and 2017, while the Federal Prosecutor’s Office was investigating Fifa for corruption. The investigations include the awards for the 2018 soccer World Cup to Russia and 2022 to Qatar. According to the BA, there are “signs of criminal behavior”.
Criminal proceedings are now also to be opened against Lauber. However, he will remain in office until the end of January 2021 and will therefore be protected from criminal prosecution. That is why the specially appointed extraordinary public prosecutor applied to parliament to lift his immunity. “He (the extraordinary public prosecutor) comes to the conclusion that there are indications of criminal behavior in connection with the meeting between federal prosecutor Michael Lauber and the FIFA president and the Valais senior public prosecutor,” the supervisory authority said. It is about abuse of office, violation of official secrecy, favoritism and incitement to the facts. The presumption of innocence applies.
At the beginning of June, the world association rejected all allegations against Infantino. He “certainly didn’t do anything wrong by meeting Mr. Lauber. It is not a crime to meet the federal prosecutor and such meetings are not uncommon. Gianni Infantino’s motivation was to offer the Swiss authorities all kinds of support, «it was said at the time.
Lauber has now submitted his resignation for the end of January 2021 after the supervisory authority had already reprimanded him about the meeting and accused him of violating his official duties. He also denied the allegations. dpa
.
