FIFA President Gianni Infantino has criminal proceedings launched against him in Switzerland as prosecutors look into his dealings with Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber
- Criminal proceedings have been launched against Fifa President Gianni Infantino in Switzerland
- Authorities are looking into his dealings with the Swiss Attorney General
- A court found that Michael Lauber covered up a meeting with Infantino
- Prosecutor Stefan Keller found indications of criminal conduct in the meetings
- Infantino was elected president in 2016 and promised to restore Fifa’s image
Prosecutors in Switzerland have launched criminal proceedings against Fifa President Gianni Infantino to investigate his dealings with Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber.
Lauber last week offered to resign after a court concluded he covered up a meeting with Infantino and lied to supervisors while his office investigated corruption surrounding Football’s governing body.
The authority overseeing Switzerland’s federal prosecutors on Thursday said that special prosecutor Stefan Keller, appointed earlier this month to review criminal complaints against the two men and others involved, had found indications of criminal conduct related to the meetings.
Swiss authorities have launched criminal proceedings against Fifa President Gianni Infantino
Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber offered to resign last week after a court concluded he covered up a meeting with Infantino and lied to supervisors
Lauber, who had worked on a corruption probe into the organisation since their offices were raided in 2015, is alleged to have held three meetings with Infantino about the status of the inquiry.
Infantino hit back after the case was opened into him, saying: ‘To meet with the Attorney General of Switzerland is perfectly legitimate and it’s perfectly legal.
‘It’s no violation of anything. On the contrary, it is also part of the fiduciary duties of the President of FIFA.’
In March Lauber was sanctioned for disloyalty, lying and breaching his office’s code of conduct. He also had his salary cut for a year after he ‘contravened several duties of function’.
The Confederation Public Prosecutor’s Office (AS-MPC) said he ‘repeatedly did not tell the truth, acted unfairly, violated the Code of Conduct of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and obstructed the AS-MPC investigation’.
Lauber and Infantino both previously denied any wrongdoing.
Sportsmail has approached Fifa for comment.
Infantino was elected as Fifa president in 2016, vowing to restore the organisation’s image
Infantino joined UEFA in 2000 and became their General Secretary in 2009. He became one of the front runners to become FIFA President after Sepp Blatter was forced to resign amid corruption allegations.
He defeated candidate Sheikh Salman in elections and took over the governing body in 2016 after two rounds of voting in Zurich – promising to ‘restore the image of Fifa’ after going through ‘sad times’.
‘I want to be the president of all of you,’ he said after being elected. I want to work with all of you to restore and rebuild a new era where we can put football in the centre of the stage.
‘Fifa has gone through sad times, moments of crisis. But those times are over. We enter now a new era. We’ll restore the image of Fifa and make sure everybody will be happy with what we do.’