It is now to come to trial against the once most powerful football bosses in the world: Sepp Blatter, who led the world association Fifa for 17 years, and Michel Platini, who was considered the designated successor. Nothing came of the changing of the guard, in autumn 2015 the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office (BA) opened a case against the duo. Today, this Bernese authority is already legendary: For their mistakes in other Fifa proceedings, which became statute-barred or silted up – and for their sticky closeness to the man who conquered the orphaned Blatter throne at the time: Gianni Infantino.
It makes you wonder how much the ambition of the Bernese breakdown authority is focused on the mother of their football proceedings – the one against Blatter and Platini. It should definitely take place, and Fifa is also pushing hard as a co-plaintiff. Since 2015, the BA has been tracking down two million Swiss francs that Blatters had paid Fifa to Platini years earlier; he was then Uefa President. Both claim the money went to an oral appointment for Platini’s consultancy work, which ran from 1998 to 2002. The investigation resulted in both long bans in football – and the way was clear for someone whose career would have ended if Platini had become FIFA President at the time: Infantino. He was UEFA General Secretary at the time and fell out of favor with his boss.
It is still unclear how the legendary sleepy-headed Bernese federal officials found out about this two million deal so quickly. In fact, only a very small group of insiders knew about the process. The identity of the whistleblower is still of central importance in terms of sport policy. Platini fell, the football world froze in the face of raids and arrests directed by the US judiciary, and behind the scenes Infantino made his way. The general of the leaderless Uefa approved a buxom budget for a FIFA election campaign, which he officially only led to keep the throne warm for his boss Platini.
Infantino is indestructible in his remodeled Fifa
Blatter and Platini sense Infantino’s circles behind their sudden fall. And since he took office, he himself contributed a lot to this suspicion. One of his first official acts was a secret meeting with BA boss Lauber, and the second took place weeks later. Spicy: There was already a new criminal investigation going on for a TV contract signed by Infantino – and Infantino really wanted to convince Lauber of his innocence. In any case, the proceedings for the mysterious Infantino Treaty were then only conducted against unknown persons and were later discontinued. Lauber and Infantino came under pressure when another silent meeting was exposed. One that neither of the entourage wanted to remember.
Lauber had to leave, both have been investigated since then. But Infantino is indestructible in his remodeled Fifa. He even has another criminal investigation on his neck because, according to the files, he lied to FIFA compliance when he approved a private flight for a business trip that cost more than $ 200,000. He explained the purpose of the luxury trip with an important meeting: a meeting that he had simply made up.
The Blatter / Platini process could provide the sports world with much more important things than resolving the question of whether the two would have better drawn up a contract for their payment at the time. It is much more exciting that the defendants should now have full access to the files. In doing so, they could find out which silent informant the Bern BA had set on them at the time. At the same time, Blatter’s lawyer brought one of the Infantino cases into the proceedings. In the defense, he points out that the boss of the co-plaintiff Fifa himself is in the sights of the criminal justice system: Because of unfaithful business management in the context of the extremely expensive private jet trip.
No question about it, the cause of the two long-discarded officials completely pales in comparison to all the questions about Infantino. This has long since replaced the once strict Fifa ethicists, who banned Blatter / Platini, with a tame retinue. But whether his arm still extends as deeply into the Swiss justice system as it did in Lauber’s time remains to be seen soon.
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