FIFA boss implicated in Panama Papers
The signature of new FIFA president Gianni Infantino has cropped up
in the so-called “Panama Papers” in connection with questionable TV
rights sales in South America, the German newspaper behind the mass
leaks reported on Tuesday.
Swiss-Italian lawyer Infantino, 46,
succeeded the suspended Sepp Blatter in February as the head of FIFA,
which is reeling from the arrests of leading officials last year, as
well as the clouds over the awardings of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to
Russia and Qatar respectively.
In his then-post as head of
UEFA’s legal department, in 2006 and 2007 Infantino signed TV rights
contracts for Champions League and other football tournaments with a
letterbox company headed by two men who are now defendants in the FIFA
scandal, reported the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
But Infantino denied any wrongdoing in a statement sent to AFP.
“I am dismayed and will not accept that my integrity is being
doubted by certain areas of the media, especially given that UEFA has
already disclosed in detail all facts regarding these contracts,” said
Infantino.
“From the moment I was made aware of the latest media enquiries
on the matter, I immediately contacted UEFA to seek clarity. I did this
because I am no longer with UEFA, and it is they who exclusively possess
all contractual information relating to this query.
“In the
meantime, UEFA has announced that it has been conducting a review of its
numerous commercial contracts and has answered extensively all media
questions related to these specific contracts.
“As I previously stated, I never personally dealt with Cross
Trading nor their owners as the tender process was conducted by Team
Marketing on behalf of UEFA.
“I would like to state for the record that neither UEFA nor I
have ever been contacted by any authorities in relation to these
particular contracts.
“Moreover, as media themselves report, there is
no indication whatsoever for any wrongdoings from neither UEFA nor
myself in this matter.”
The two men who owned the company Cross
Trading are Argentinian TV rights dealers Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, who
have both been accused in the FIFA scandal by US investigators.
The father and son team are accused in the US of having bribed
FIFA and other football officials to be able to cheaply acquire TV
rights and then sell them at inflated margins.
In the rights deals signed with Infantino for UEFA, their company
had also made huge profits, said the report-buying the rights for a
total of $140,000 (123,000 euros) and selling them on for $440,000.
The transactions “raise the question: Why did UEFA sell the TV rights obviously well below value?”, asked the paper.
The
report said FIFA, UEFA and Infantino, its former general secretary, had
repeatedly denied having ever had any business dealings with Hugo and
Mariano Jinkis.
Then, when confronted with the signed contract in late March,
UEFA had confirmed to the newspaper that the contract indeed bore
Infantino’s signature.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung said it was told by UEFA
that the organisation did not know at the time who were the real owners
of Cross Trading.
The so-called Panama Papers, a massive leak of 11.5
million documents about secret offshore financial dealings implicating
world leaders and celebrities, has prompted several countries to open
investigations.
Swiss police on Wednesday searched UEFA's
headquarters for contracts linked to a Champions League television
rights deal revealed in the so-called "Panama Papers", which involves
FIFA's new president Gianni Infantino.
