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ZURICH. — FIFA have forcefully rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing against their president, Gianni Infantino, after the Swiss special federal prosecutor, Stefan Keller, announced a criminal investigation into him last week.
In a combative, at times scornful response, FIFA’s deputy general secretary, Alasdair Bell, said there was “no factual basis whatsoever” for any allegations of criminality.
He said FIFA had not yet even been notified of any allegations, and he expressed impatience with the Swiss investigations into alleged corruption during the previous FIFA regime before Infantino in February 2016, promising to reform and clean up the organisation.
The new criminal investigation relates to three meetings Infantino had after his election, with Switzerland’s then attorney general, Michael Lauber, who was investigating many different allegations of corruption under the previous president of 17 years, Sepp Blatter.
Bell was adamant that the purpose of the meetings, two in 2016 and one in 2017, was for Infantino to discuss the investigations, assure Lauber that he was intent on reforming FIFA, and to “offer cooperation”.
The meetings were initially arranged by Rinaldo Arnold, an old friend of Infantino’s, who was also a prosecutor.
Controversy about the meetings has escalated into difficulties for Lauber about his recollections of the 2017 discussion in particular, and he resigned last month after official criticism, although he denies any wrongdoing.
Bell said it was justifiable for Infantino not to take notes in a meeting like that, and said FIFA did not accept he could have done anything wrong by agreeing to meet the country’s most senior law officer.
“There is no factual basis whatsoever for this criminal investigation,” Bell said in a video press conference.
“There is no description of criminal conduct of any kind that has been communicated to FIFA. There is something a little grotesque and unfair in all this because we are 100% confident there will never be a criminal charge against the FIFA president.”
The investigation was opened after “some anonymous complaints” over the meetings were made in Bern, Bell added, suggesting they were from Infantino’s rivals.
Describing FIFA as “an organised kleptocracy” during Blatter’s time, Bell said the serious allegations of wrongdoing during that period should be a “matter of prioritisation” for the Swiss authorities.
While there have been more than 40 convictions in the US of former senior executives in football — and FIFA-related prosecutions, there have so far been no charges in Switzerland.
Blatter, himself, remains under an investigation, although parts of it were dropped in April, and he has consistently denied wrongdoing.
FIFA’s ethics committee have not said whether they intends to suspend or take any action against Infantino while the criminal investigation is ongoing.
Bell insisted Infantino had “absolutely nothing to hide” and that his legal team has “no idea what the FIFA President has done wrong.” Bell added that FIFA attorneys were “still trying to understand what’s behind it.”
In a statement released following the opening of the investigation last Thursday, Infantino insisted that meeting Lauber is “perfectly legitimate and it’s perfectly legal.”
FIFA also said it would cooperate fully with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Bell says controversy around the head of world football is as an “Alice in Wonderland situation” and a “step backwards” in repairing FIFA’s name.
“Most people would recognise if you go to meet the attorney general, you would be in pretty safe hands,” Bell told BBC Sport. “You wouldn’t think you are going to be accused of criminal wrongdoing for having met the attorney general.
“Yet this is the kind of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ situation we are in today.”
Bell said neither Infantino nor FIFA were aware of the source of the complaint that led to the charges being levelled.
However, he did accept it might have come from someone with an axe to grind against the 50-year-old Swiss, who took office in 2016, vowing to clean up an organisation badly tarnished by the allegations levelled against his predecessor Blatter, who is currently serving an eight-year ban from football.
“Yes, there might be some people who might be interested in that [bringing the Fifa president down],” said Bell. “We don’t know who made the complaints. Maybe those people would like to see Gianni Infantino fall.”
While Bell said he is “100% certain” no criminal charges will arise in this matter, he accepts the reputational damage to FIFA will be significant. “Of course, this is bad for our reputation as an institution and the personal reputation of the president,” said Bell.
Bell believes ridding FIFA of the stigma of corruption “is not something that is going to happen overnight”, adding: “To turn the ship around and to establish trust and credibility takes time.
“We are definitely going in the right direction but it is a work in progress. Events like this, the announcement of a criminal investigation, even if it is without any merit whatsoever, is a step backwards.” — DW/Guardian/BBC Sport.
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