Did Swiss prosecutor Cédric Remund attend a secret meeting in the presence of the president of the International Football Federation (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, on June 16, 2017, in Bern? The question has hovered since the German and Swiss daily newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Luzerner Zeitung alleged on April 18 that the magistrate, responsible for several FIFA-related investigations since 2015, was present at this meeting during which the boss of world football and his childhood friend, the first prosecutor of the Haut -Valais Rinaldo Arnold, met with Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber and his chief of communications, André Marty.
According to our information, Mr. Remund denies having participated in this meeting and provided an alibi to the various parties involved in the proceedings. The world and the Süddeutsche Zeitung had access to his supporting letter, dated April 20, sent to the Federal Criminal Court.
In this letter, Mr. Remund states that he took a day off on June 16, 2017, to " to write a scientific article ", without giving further details. The magistrate attached to this letter a form attesting to his absence, that day, at the seat of the Public Ministry of the Swiss Confederation (MPC), in Bern.
Contacted by The world, on April 19, Mr. Remund did not specify whether he was present at the June 2017 meeting.
Responsible for several criminal proceedings
If Mr. Remund's presence at the June 2017 meeting were to be confirmed, it could jeopardize several criminal proceedings, including that targeting Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the Qatari boss of Paris-Saint-Germain and BeIn Media, as well as the Frenchman Jérôme. Valcke, the former FIFA general secretary (2007-2015).
Mr. Remund had also questioned the former president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michel Platini in September 2015, as an assisted witness in the case of the alleged unfair payment of 2 million Swiss francs (1 , 8 million euros) made to him in 2011 by the ex-president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter. In May 2018, he too was the one who notified Mr. Platini by mail that he would not be prosecuted in connection with the investigation.
According to a classification order, that The world consulted, Mr. Remund had also closed, in November 2017, an investigation “against unknown” relating to a questionable contract signed in 2006 by Mr. Infantino, then director of the legal affairs department of UEFA, and granting television rights to an offshore company, owned by businessmen indicted in 2015 by the American courts.
Articles from the Süddeutsche Zeitung and some Luzerner Zeitung caused a stir in Switzerland when the Supervisory Authority of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office (AS-MPC) recognized, on March 4, the Attorney General Lauber " guilty of having violated several duties of office " by meeting informally (without supporting minutes), and on three occasions, the President of FIFA (civil party in these proceedings), in March and April 2016, then in June 2017.
No memory
In its report, the AS-MPC questions the presence of Rinaldo Arnold, a friend of Mr. Infantino, at three meetings with Mr. Lauber. According to information from World and the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the Supervisory Authority of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office considers that Mr. Arnold sought, on behalf of Mr. Infantino, on July 8, 2015, to glean from the prosecutor Lauber judicial information concerning Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, then favorite in the race to the FIFA presidency.
According to AS-MPC, the meeting of July 8, 2015 took place after an appointment with " five hours Between FIFA and the MPC on 26 June 2015, during which the two parties raised the issue of the transmission of FIFA’s sealed data.
The AS-MPC indicates that Mr. Arnold did not mention the meeting of July 8, 2015 or that of June 16, 2017 during his interrogation by the extraordinary prosecutor of the canton of Valais. In what capacity did this childhood friend of Mr. Infantino accompany the latter during two meetings with Mr. Lauber? Contacted, Mr. Arnold did not follow up.
For its part, FIFA does not answer the question and does not specify whether its legal department, in permanent contact with the Swiss public prosecutor's office, was or was not aware of the presence of Mr. Arnold during meetings with the MPC. According to AS-MPC, " there is no legal basis for such presence in proceedings before the MPC. "
For FIFA, " there is nothing secret or suspicious about »Of these meetings between Mr. Infantino and Mr. Lauber. The organization recalls its desire to " cooperate "And" hope that the investigations will be completed soon and that there will be concrete results. "
Organized at the Schweizerhof hotel in Bern, owned by a company linked to a Qatari sovereign fund, the meeting of June 16, 2017 remains shrouded in a halo of mystery. Mr. Infantino, like Mr. Marty and Mr. Arnold, has had no memory of it. As for Mr. Lauber, he assured AS-MPC, in November 2018, that he had no longer met with representatives of FIFA after … April 2016. If he assured the rapporteurs of AS- MPC " have a good memory He also does not remember the meeting of June 16, 2017.
