Governing Bodies
FIFA President Infantino interviewed again by Swiss prosecutors in criminal case
FIFA President Gianno Infantino was interviewed for a second time today by Swiss authorities in a criminal case where he is accused of “incitement to abuse of authority, violation of official secrecy and obstruction of criminal action.”
The investigation had been launched in July 2020 and Infantino had initially been quizzed last April by magistrates Ulrich Weder and Hans Maurer, who conducted today’s interview in Zurich, where football’s world governing body is based.
Maurer confirmed that the meeting with Infantino, who had only recently returned from Brazil where he attended the funeral of football legend Pelé, to French newspaper Le Monde but refused to comment further.
The prosecutors are investigating three alleged secret meetings that took place in 2016 and 2017, between Infantino and the former Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber, who was in charge of investigations in connection with FIFA between 2015 and 2019 and who resigned in 2020 after he was implicated in the scandal.
Lauber is also under investigation.
Weder and Maurer also reportedly plan to interview several other officials involved in the alleged meetings, including Lauber’s former spokesman André Marty, and Haut-Valais Rinaldo Arnold, first prosecutor of Swiss canton Haut-Valais and a childhood friend of Infantino.
Former FIFA legal director Marco Villiger, former Swiss Attorney General official Olivier Thormann; and anti-corruption prosecutor Cédric Remund are also expected to be interviewed, Le Monde reported.
Infantino, a member of the International Olympic Committee, will be hoping that the matter is cleared up before March when he is due to stand opposed for re-election as FIFA President as the organisation’s Congress in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.
It has been alleged that during the secret meetings Infantino was seeking information on investigations into FIFA and its former executives, potentially with the intention to influence the course of those investigations.
It has been alleged that Infantino was trying to find out the state of an investigation regarding the CHF2 million (£1.8 million/$2.2 million/€2.1 million) payment sanctioned by former FIFA President Sepp Blatter to Infantino’s former boss at UEFA Michel Platini, who was seeking to take over as head of the world governing body.
Last July, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court acquitted the two men.
But another trial is due take place as the prosecution and FIFA appealed Blatter and Platini’s acquittal.
Infantino has always claimed that he never asked Arnold to meet Lauber on his behalf and, when the first meeting took place, that as general secretary of UEFA, he had no plans to stand for FIFA President at that time.
According to Le Monde, the magistrates have interviewed Infantino’s sister who claimed that her brother and Arnold were not in touch until she re-introduced them at the end of 2015.
FIFA told Le Monde that they would not comment “as long as the case is ongoing.”
-insidethegames
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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