Credit: Twitter
Prosecutors have closed criminal proceedings against FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. The investigation against Infantino opened in July 2020 over an alleged secret meeting with former Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber. The prosecutor confirmed on Thursday, October 26, that their investigations were invalidated against Infantino. Infantino was elected as the FIFA Chief in 2016 after the body became deeply involved in several corruption cases.
The FIFA Chief said that the allegations were made to ‘attack his reputation’. BBC quoted Infantino as saying in a FIFA statement, "This is a full and clear victory for me, for the new Fifa and for justice. It is now clear that the accusations against me were mere attempts by poor, envious and corrupt people to attack my reputation. If these people have some dignity left, they should at least have the decency and apologise for their actions and the damage caused.”
Infantino went on to say, "Indeed and with no surprise, the investigation fully and clearly confirms that I have always acted in a lawful and correct way, always defending exclusively the interests of FIFA and football." Notably, the 53-year-old was suspected of secrecy violations, abuse of office and aiding and abetting related to meetings he held with the former Swiss general.
FIFA in their official statement said, "Now it is official: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has always acted absolutely correctly and lawfully in his relations with the Swiss public prosecutors who were investigating the 'old FIFA'. The new FIFA is today a clean, well run and robust organisation which operates in accordance with the highest ethical and governance standards."
