KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- A criminal inquiry into FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s use of a private jet has been recommended by the Swiss judiciary’s special investigator in the latest bizarre legal twist arising out of a case against the country’s former Attorney-General.

A statement from Stefan Keller’s office did not explain how an alleged expenses allowance breach within a private entity – the status of the world football federation – could prompt criminal proceedings, especially when the body concerned had not raised its own complaint.

However, in the smoke and mirrors world entangling the Swiss judicial system and FIFA almost anything is possible.

Gianni Infantino . . . FIFA president since 2016

Earlier this week the disgraced ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter was interviewed over what he may or may not have known about links between Infantino and Michael Lauber, the former Attorney-General who was forced out of office during the summer.

The context was Keller’s investigation into meetings between Lauber and Infantino in 2016 and 2017 but of which neither man apparently made formal notes and at least one of which Lauber claimed to have forgotten.

Corruption scandals

Lauber’s memory lapse was considered remarkable because he had been overseeeing more than 20 FIFA-linked cases arising from both the contentious 2018/2022 World Cup host awards in 2010 and then the United States-led FIFAGate corruption debacle.

FIFA and Infantino have denied all allegations of wrongdoing ever since Keller, in July, opened an initial case against Infantino because of “indications of criminal conduct” over the Lauber meetings

The latest twist of legal events turns once more on the use of a private jet which has long been a fraught issue within FIFA;  it was one of the factors which led to the downfall in 2016 of former secretary-general Jerome Valcke.

In Infantino’s case a private jet was hired to bring him back to Switzerland from Suriname in 2017  after visiting member federations in the Caribbean. Infantino reportedly justified its hire so he could attend a meeting with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. This came as a surprise to Ceferin who had been in Arminia at the time.

A statement from Keller’s office said:

The extraordinary federal prosecutor has completed the examination of the criminal accusations brought against the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, for unfair management in connection with the use of a private jet.

Based on the investigations carried out, Stefan Keller is of the opinion that a criminal investigation must be opened for unfair management.

Recommendation

The statement included the caveat that Keller has no powers to launch a criminal investigation himself. His responsibility is to submit a recommendation for such action to the Swiss Federation’s public prosecutor’s office.

Sources close to FIFA suggested that the recommendation is merely a ‘holding charge’ from Keller to gain time while he continues his ‘fishing trip’ investigation concerning the head of world football and the former Attorney-General.

Infantino, a 50-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer, spent 16 years with UEFA – latterly as general secretary – winning the FIFA presidency in 2016. He was re-elected in 2019 for a four-year term.

Angry response

FIFA and Infantino derided Keller’s work. A statement said:

Many months into his investigation and having established precisely nothing problematic about these meetings with the former Federal Attorney General, as FIFA always predicted would be the case, and having not even asked to hear the FIFA President since his investigation was announced last July, the “special prosecutor” has issued an official “media release” saying that the FIFA president should now be investigated for something else!

Neither FIFA nor its president have ever been informed of these new spurious allegations and they are therefore unable to comment on them, which is probably the intention of the “special prosecutor”.

Infantino, within his first year in office, was subject in 2016 to a FIFA ethics committee inquiry into expense allowance issues including a number of flights. The investigation was later closed with no action taken.

FIFA statement:

FIFA and the FIFA President are shocked by the statement issued today by “special prosecutor” Stefan Keller.  This statement is both malicious and defamatory in nature and demonstrates his extreme bias. 

Now, many months into his investigation and having established precisely nothing problematic about these meetings with the former Federal Attorney General, as FIFA always predicted would be the case, and having not even asked to hear the FIFA President since his investigation was announced last July, the “special prosecutor” has today issued an official “media release” saying that the FIFA President should now be investigated for something else!  

Neither FIFA nor its President have ever been informed of these new spurious allegations and they are therefore unable to comment on them, which is probably the intention of the “special prosecutor”.

The method of “special prosecutor” Stefan Keller to accuse and defame by publishing media releases without justification borders on character assassination and is rejected in the strongest possible terms by FIFA and its President. 

FIFA and its President will obviously take all necessary legal steps and remedies to put an end to these baseless and ill intentioned accusations.

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