Gianni Infantino, the president of the world football governing body, FIFA, has been cleared of all alleged wrongdoings by FIFA‘s ethics committee.
This means that whatever the result of the preliminary investigation the ethics committee carried out was, it was not worthy enough to attract the punishment of the committee against the 50-year-old Swiss football administrator.
How did Gianni Infantino get here
Gianni Infantino who is currently serving his second term in office as FIFA president has never been linked with any tangible illegal dealings until recently when Swiss special federal public prosecutor alleged that the FIFA president had a case to answer.
According to the public prosecutor, Infantino held a meeting with the Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber in 2006 and 2007. The meetings were said to be secret and worthy of investigation.
Hence, in early August 2020, the FIFA president made his defense public, insisting that the meeting he held with Lauber was not in secrecy. He revealed that he had to meet with the attorney general because his office was carrying out an investigation that involves FIFA. Hence, he stressed that he did not do anything wrong.
In the same vein, the Swiss attorney general said the meeting he and Infantino held was not by any means illegal. They, however, failed to give details of the discussion they had when they met three years ago. They claimed that they could not recall the details.
What the Swiss special federal public prosecutor wanted and the outcome of Gianni Infantino’s saga:
The Swiss special federal public prosecutor wanted FIFA’s ethics committee to suspend Gianni Infantino to enable the committee to carry out a thorough investigation into his alleged wrongdoing.
However, the ethics committee did not deem it fit to suspend the FIFA president. Infantino remained in office while the preliminary investigation was ongoing.
On Wednesday, the Ethics committee issued a statement declaring the FIFA president cleared of all allegations and said “no aspect of the conduct analyzed constitutes a violation”.
The FIFA statement read: “After examining the relevant documentation and evidence, the chairperson of the investigatory chamber has decided to file the complaint and close the case due to the evident lack of a prima facie case regarding any alleged breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
“Based on the information available to date, no aspect of the conduct analyzed constitutes a violation of the FIFA regulations – some aspects do not even fall within the provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics, or justify the adoption of any kind of measure, including that of a provisional suspension.”
The Freed Gianni Infantino
Gianni Infantino is a Swiss–Italian football administrator and graduate of law. After many years in UEFA and other related football associations, he found himself in FIFA as a member of FIFA’s Reform Committee.
When the former president of FIFA Sepp Blatter was ousted and banned from football-related activities after a criminal investigation was launched against him, Infantino stood for election and he was elected the president of the football body during the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress on 26 February 2016.
In less than four years later, he stood for re-election on 5 June 2019 and he won. Besides the fact that he is a FIFA president, he is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
