Governing Bodies
COLLUSION CLAIMS IN FIFA GRAFT PROBE
A Swiss prosecutor investigating corruption in football met in secret with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, German and Swiss media have alleged, further fuelling allegations of collusion between the world football governing body and investigators.
Citing unnamed sources, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and Switzerland’s Luzerner Zeitung suggested that Cedric Remund was the previously unidentified fifth person at a secret meeting with Infantino and Swiss attorney-general Michael Lauber at the Schweizerhof Hotel in Bern on June 16, 2017.
If proven, the allegation could potentially compromise a number of high-profile football corruption probes of which Remund was directly in charge, claimed SZ.
According to the newspaper, the meeting with Infantino was also attended by Lauber’s spokesman Andre Marty and Rinaldo Arnold, Infantino’s friend and senior prosecutor for the Upper Valais canton.
Lauber, who is in charge of the probe into FIFA corruption which opened in 2015, had previously denied the meeting to the ethics body that oversees Swiss ministries during a disciplinary hearing.
Yet a March report by the body said the meeting had taken place, and accused him of “breaching several professional obligations,” including “repeatedly not telling the truth” and “acting disloyally”.
The prosecutor’s salary was since cut by eight per cent, though the 54-year-old remains in office, having been reappointed by the Swiss Parliament last September.
The ethics body also found that a fifth person, who the two newspapers claimed was Remund, had attended the 2017 meeting.
According to SZ, the 38-year-old was in charge of a corruption investigation into Germany’s hosting of the 2006 World Cup, as well as a suspicious TV rights contract – signed by Infantino – between European football governing body UEFA and two Argentinian businessmen in 2006.
Both probes were ongoing at the time of the 2017 meeting.
“What is clear is that an investigating prosecutor should never have been allowed to attend this meeting,” SZ wrote.
Lauber’s office has defended the other meetings with Infantino, insisting they were logistically necessary given the scope of the FIFA graft probe.
Switzerland’s investigation concerns alleged misconduct that occurred before Infantino replaced Sepp Blatter in 2016.
The latter is currently serving a six-year ban from football-related activities over ethics violations and has been accused of arranging a payment of two million Swiss francs (S$2.9 million) to the then UEFA president Michel Platini in February 2011.
-AFP
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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