Few of the former executives of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) have spoken publicly. Discarded from his post as chairman of the FIFA Governance Committee in 2017, Miguel Poiares Maduro has decided to speak. The Portuguese does so, while the head of the global body, Gianni Infantino, is weakened by three informal meetings (in 2016 and 2017) with the Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber, on the front line on investigations related to the organization since 2015.
According to Maduro, " Prosecutor Lauber's behavior is unacceptable and he must resign ". On May 20, Mr. Lauber is scheduled to be heard by the judicial committee of the Swiss Federal Assembly before the possible initiation of a dismissal procedure. " If he is not removed, it is the very credibility of the Swiss justice system which is called into question "Maduro said, while in March the Supervisory Authority of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office found Mr. Lauber guilty of having violated several duties of office during these secret meetings.
Regarding Mr. Infantino, "It doesn't seem like it is illegal, but his behavior is ethically blameable", suggests Mr. Maduro:
"The fact that Mr. Lauber has already been disciplined should be enough for the FIFA ethics committee to investigate these secret matches. Such a investigation should determine the objectives of these meetings. It would have to establish whether Mr. Infantino was aware of the unacceptable nature of these meetings under the rules of the Swiss public prosecutor's office and whether he knew that they were likely to damage the reputation of FIFA. "
In the eyes of the former Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (between 2003 and 2009), Mr. Infantino is likely to have violated Articles 13 and 14 of the FIFA Code of Ethics ("rules of general conduct ”and“ duty of neutrality ”).
A "criminal information" filed with the Swiss courts
Gianni Infantino is now also the subject of a criminal complaint transmitted, Wednesday, May 13, by an anonymous source to the regional parquet of Berne-Mittelland. This complaint, which will be examined by the prosecution, has been qualified as " prank call " by FIFA.
According to information from World, a "criminal denunciation" was also filed on Wednesday at the Bern-Mittelland regional prosecutor's office by the Swiss company Sport 7, which began in 2017 to attack "The lawless area of the midst of football agents". This information is directed against Mr. Lauber for "Abuse of authority and obstruction of criminal proceedings" and against "Members to be determined from the leadership of the MPC (Public Ministry of the Confederation) and FIFA ”.
On April 27, Sport 7 filed complaints with the Federal Department of Justice and Police demanding that criminal investigations against Mr. Lauber and FIFA be opened. In a letter sent to the judicial committee of the Swiss Federal Assembly, Philippe Renz, lawyer for Sport 7, alerts parliamentarians to "This drop of too much which broke the vessel of impunity and collusion of certain Swiss authorities vis-à-vis a FIFA with mafia practices which infiltrated them for a long time".
Headed by Colombian Maria Claudia Rojas since 2017, will the investigative chamber of the FIFA ethics committee open a preliminary investigation into Mr. Infantino? Contacted, FIFA has not yet followed up. "I don't know if the FIFA ethics committee will do it or not. Unfortunately, FIFA rules do not protect the independence of its disciplinary bodies ”, considers Mr. Maduro.
Since 2017, the secretariat of the ethics committee has been headed by a relative of Mr. Infantino, the Italian lawyer Mario Gallavotti, director of FIFA's "independent committees".
Infantino cleared by the ethics committee in 2016
A few months after his election in February 2016, Mr. Infantino had been the subject of a preliminary and formal investigation by the ethics committee. The internal court of the case had notably considered an internal memo against which The world consulted, and who pinned Mr. Infantino's lifestyle at the head of the proceeding and pointed to possible conflicts of interest.
This memo notified that the FIFA President would have accepted donations in kind, including private jet flights, paid by Russia and Qatar, and estimated " at least between 115,000 and 150,000 dollars (between around 107,000 and 139,000 euros) ".
According to this document, on April 22, 2016, Mr. Infantino traveled from Doha (Qatar) to Zurich (Switzerland) by private jet. That day, he had an appointment with Mr. Lauber in Zurich. Based on an email sent by the President of FIFA to a magistrate friend, The Geneva Tribune considered that, during this meeting with the Swiss Attorney General, Mr. Infantino sought to "Get rid of an investigation that threatened him personally".
A member of the FIFA ethics committee, Trinidadian lawyer Vanessa Allard decided in August 2016 to close the investigation into possible spending abuses and other private jet travel by Mr. Infantino. In November 2015, Mme Allard had requested a life strike-out against Michel Platini in the case of the payment of 2 million Swiss francs (approximately 1.8 million euros) made to the Frenchman, in 2011, by the ex-president of FIFA Sepp Blatter . Mr. Platini was ultimately suspended eight years by the ethics committee.
