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Post by Admin on Jun 29, 2020 22:09:03 GMT
New criminal complaint against FIFA fixer Arnold plunges Infantino deeper into mire www.insideworldfootball.com/2020/06/17/new-criminal-complaint-fifa-fixer-arnold-plunges-infantino-deeper-mire/17th June 2020 June 17 – A key ally of FIFA president Gianni Infantino is reported to be the subject of a fourth criminal complaint to the Swiss authorities involving secret undocumented meetings between the FIFA president and under-fire attorney-general Michael Lauber. Last week Swiss parliamentarians called for a special investigator to be appointed to examine whether three complaints Lauber were worthy of a full investigation. All three reportedly related to the much-publicised informal meetings between Lauber and Infantino, two of them apparently submitted by an unnamed lawyer and the third from anonymous sources. Lawmakers recently voted to launch impeachment proceedings against Lauber who has denied any wrongdoing but in March was sanctioned for disloyalty, lying and breaching his office’s code of conduct. He also had his pay cut for a year after a watchdog group found he repeatedly told falsehoods and broke a prosecutors’ code of conduct. Infantino has not been accused of any wrongdoing and FIFA has described as a “farce” the very notion that a complaint could be made against someone for simply meeting a prosecutor. But now, according to the German newspaper Suddeutschee Zeitiung, a fourth criminal complaint has been launched, this time against local Valais public prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold, a personal friend of Infantino who comes from the same region of Switzerland. Arnold has long been cited as the facilitator of at least one of the meetings between Lauber and Infantino and could potentially be suspected of having broken the law, according to Swiss social democrat politician Gilbert Truffer. Arnold is reported as having first spoken to Lauber about the meetings in July 2015 when Infantino was still UEFA general secretary – eight months before he landed the FIFA presidency. The inference is that Infantino wanted to find out if he was the target of any corruption probe as he prepared to launch his campaign to take over from Sepp Blatter. Crucially, the opening of criminal proceedings could have serious consequences for Infantino. If a special prosecutor is installed, the FIFA Ethics Committee would have no other option than to suspend Infantino, temporarily at least, according to its own statutes. Contact the writer of this story at moc.llabtoofdlrowedisni@wahsraw.werdna 5
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Post by Admin on Sept 7, 2020 15:51:37 GMT
Anne Brasseur demands immediate reforms from FIFA
© Didier Weber / RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg Gianni Infantino was supposed to steer Fifa back on the right path after a series of corruption charges took out some of the organisation's highest ranking officials. The Swiss prosecutors have now turned their attention to Infantino himself however. DP politician Anne Brasseur (herself a former Sports Minister) is highly critical of Infantino and demands an immediate suspension of the FIFA president. It is alleged that he secretly met with the Swiss prosecutor Michel Lauber, who was in charge of the so-called "FIFA Gate", on three separate occasions in the years 2016 and 2017. The 2006 World Cup in Germany was also part of this affair, but it was announced in April that this particular matter would now fall under the statute of limitations. Brasseur, who was tasked with a report on the "adequate governance of football" initiative in 2018, considers the current situation scandalous: "FIFA was already supposed to undergo an extensive reformation process under president Sepp Blatter, and I was hopeful that Infantino would now be the man to follow through on those promises. It seems though as if the situation is now worse than ever." She further noted that the secret nature of the meetings was unacceptable, and the timing of the limitation period highly concerning. Meanwhile, the Swiss prosecutor Lauber has stepped down from his position. Infantino on the other hand remains in office, while FIFA's ethics commission is reluctant to take a stand on the issue. Brasseur noted in that regard that the commission lacked the necessary independence to announce a suspension of the president, which makes the sport's credibility suffer: "Sports enthusiasts and those who live for football clearly deserve more!"
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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2020 21:04:52 GMT
FIFA ethics committee clears Gianni Infantino
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has been cleared of corruption allegations by the football regulator's independent ethics committee — but he remains under investigation by Swiss authorities.
Gianni Infantino (picture-alliance/dpa/S. Gollnow) FIFA's independent ethics committee has cleared the organization's president Gianni Infantino of any alleged breach of its code, the world soccer regulator announced Wednesday.
The ethics committee received a complaint on June 21 regarding meeting between the FIFA chief and Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber. They received documentations from Swiss authorities and courts.
"All of this material has been duly scrutinized by the chairperson of the investigatory chamber in the context of the preliminary investigation," the committee said in a statement.
"Based on the information available to date, no aspect of the conduct analyzed constitutes a violation of the FIFA regulations," it added.
Criminal investigations by Swiss authorities into Infantino's conduct continue.
Read more: Gianni Infantino FIFA investigation: The five big questions
Watch video01:26 FIFA's Infantino pushes for 48-team Qatar World Cup What is Infantino accused of? FIFA's ethics committee had launched preliminary investigations into several alleged transgressions, including a FIFA-booked private flight from Suriname to Geneva, and secret meetings between Infantino and Lauber.
"There is no factual basis whatsoever for this criminal investigation," FIFA deputy general secretary Alasdair Bell told a news conference this month, describing the investigation as "grotesque" and "absurd."
Infantino was elected in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter, who was the subject of criminal proceedings in 2015.
Blatter was banned by FIFA's ethics committee, although the investigations against him are still ongoing and he has not been charged. He denies wrongdoing.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Swiss parliament dropped an impeachment case against Attorney General Lauber after he said he would step down from his role at the end of the month.
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Post by Admin on Sept 18, 2020 17:33:41 GMT
Infantino: We kicked corruption out of football
NARISSA FRASER 3 HRS AGO FIFA president Gianni Infantino (second from left) shakes hands with PM Dr Keith Rowley during the opening of the Home of Football on November 18, 2019. Photo by Narissa Fraser - FIFA president Gianni Infantino says under his leadership, the association has “kicked corruption out of football.” He said FIFA was “toxic” and served itself rather than football. Speaking at FIFA’s 70th Congress on Friday morning, Infantino said the association has been reformed. He said it will continue to fight against issues such as corruption, racism and match-fixing in the sport. “We witnessed it (corruption), we saw it, we kicked it out. We will not let it come back. “Match-fixing is eating football in its soul. It’s a crime and it's difficult to catch because of the international environment.” Infantino said the association works at the highest standard of governance and are delivering. “This is the new FIFA and I’m proud and you should be proud. Even if the process to get there was painful and there are still sources who want to drag us back into the darkness of the past because they don’t like reforms or because they want to hide their malpractices. Who knows? “But there is no way back. We introduced good governance reforms. We know where the money comes from and where it goes. Everything is out there and transparent – just look at our financial reports and compare them to the past.” When Infantino visited TT for the opening of the Home of Football in Couva on November 18, 2019, the Prime Minister praised the new team, describing past administrations as "a mafia."
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Post by Admin on Dec 11, 2020 20:12:33 GMT
Swiss special prosecutor wants investigation into Infantino’s use of private jet
By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter Thu, 10 December 2020, 10:39 am GMT-5·2-min read uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/swiss-special-prosecutor-wants-investigation-153927784.htmlA Swiss special prosecutor has called for a criminal investigation to be opened over the use of a private jet by FIFA president Gianni Infantino in 2017. Stefan Keller said his enquiries had found that there were “clear signs of criminally reprehensible behaviour” in relation to the flight from Suriname to Geneva. A press statement on his website said he had passed the case on to the Swiss federal prosecutor’s office. FIFA’s ethics committee said in August that it was closing its investigation into the matter due to “the evident lack of a prima facie case regarding any alleged breach of the FIFA code of ethics”. Keller passed the case concerning the flight on because his mandate is to look at meetings between Infantino and Switzerland’s former attorney general Michael Lauber. Criminal proceedings were opened against Infantino in relation to those meetings on July 30 of this year after Keller concluded there were “indications of criminal conduct”. Infantino and FIFA dismissed any suggestion of wrongdoing in relation to his meetings with Lauber, saying he had met prosecutors all around the world in relation to ongoing criminal cases in which FIFA was assigned victim status in regard to alleged corrupt activity at the world governing body prior to his election as president in 2016. Speaking in early August, FIFA’s deputy general secretary Alasdair Bell said: “There is something a little bit grotesque and unfair about all this because we are 100 per cent confident that there will never be a criminal charge, far less a criminal conviction against the FIFA president. “But we have a situation, and we have to acknowledge this, where objectively there is damage to both FIFA and to the FIFA president simply because of the existence of this criminal investigation and we think that’s not right.” FIFA has been contacted for comment concerning Keller’s statement on Thursday.
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