Fifa chief allegedly tried to get Swiss A-G to stop probe

ZURICH • Fifa president Gianni Infantino allegedly tried to get an investigation dropped by intervening with Switzerland's attorney-general, who is facing calls to resign over a separate matter.

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) launched an investigation in early 2016, shortly after Infantino was elected president of world football's governing body, about his awarding of a television rights contract to an offshore company in his previous role as Uefa's legal affairs director.

According to Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve, he was "worried" about this investigation and wrote to his childhood friend, Rinaldo Arnold, who had become a senior prosecutor in Switzerland's Haut-Valais region where they grew up.

"I will try to explain to the OAG that it is in my interests that everything should be cleared up as soon as possible, that it be clearly stated that I have nothing to do with this matter," he wrote in an e-mail cited by the newspaper on Monday.

Arnold, who had helped to set up a first meeting between Infantino and Attorney-General Michael Lauber, replied: "What is important is the meeting in two weeks' time. If you like, I can come with you again."

The meeting took place on April 22, 2016, the newspaper said, adding that what happened during the discussion remains "a mystery", and the OAG "refuses to speak about it".

The OAG and Fifa declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Fifa has always indicated that the meetings between Infantino and the OAG were intended to show that Fifa was "ready to engage with the Swiss justice system".

In November 2017, "after a third informal meeting" between Infantino and Lauber, the OAG closed the investigation into the contract signed by Infantino at Uefa, European football's governing body.

The Tribune de Geneve reported that between July and September 2016, there were more than 20 calls between Swiss prosecutors and Fifa lawyers.

"Prosecutors have apparently helped Fifa formulate its requests" as a plaintiff so that they could be "accepted by the OAG" - an attitude which "seems incompatible with the OAG's duty of impartiality", the daily said.

Lauber faced calls on Monday to resign over accusations that he botched a corruption trial involving a suspect payment linked to the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.

The Federal Criminal Court suspended the trial - in which Fifa was not a target - last month following the coronavirus outbreak.

Mark Pieth, University of Basel law professor and an anti-corruption campaigner, told the Neue Zurcher Zeitung newspaper that undocumented meetings which Lauber had with parties involved in the case, including Infantino, undermined the prosecutors' credibility.

The Tages-Anzeiger paper also called for Lauber's removal.

The OAG declined comment on the resignation calls but said it had fulfilled its duties by filing an indictment in the fraud case last August.

The court said the trial had not officially ended and judges would have to rule on the next steps.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 29, 2020, with the headline Fifa chief allegedly tried to get Swiss A-G to stop probe. Subscribe