FIFA closes case into Gianni Infantino ethics violation

FIFA has cleared President Gianni Infantino of violating its Code of Ethics following a preliminary investigation by the investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee.

The investigation was looking into Infantino allegedly conducting secret, unrecorded meetings with then Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber who was at the time conducting an investigation into corruption at FIFA. Both have always denied any wrong doing and denied the alleged meetings ever took place, but last month Michael Lauber stepped down from his position as Attorney General as it was impossible to continue in his role whilst his trustworthiness was being frequently questioned.

The meetings between Infantino and Lauber are the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland with the documentation being shared with the FIFA Ethics Committee that was conducting the investigation into Infantino. The chair of the Committee decided to close the case after studying the documentation, with an official statement reading “Based on the information available to date, no aspect of the conduct analysed constitutes a violation of the FIFA regulations – some aspects do not even fall within the provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics.”

Infantino has insisted that the meetings were “in no way secret and most certainly not illegal” but rather stated that he met Lauber to discuss the ongoing investigation into corruption in which FIFA was a damaged party.

You can read the FIFA statement here.