Infantino denies FIFA corruption allegations

• Infantino denies allegations of corruption against FIFA employees in connection with a contract.
• In a statement, the president said he rejected the claims made by Mattias Grafström, a FIFA ethics investigator, and said that the plan is part of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
• UEFA has submitted a plan with the FFE framework, which involves two years of the FIFA president’s work, according to which Infantino is being paid for his role in the plan.

The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, denied allegations of corruption against FIFA employees (allegedly) in a statement to the Press Association. He said that the allegations are not based on evidence.

In a statement to Press Association, Infantino said that he rejected the claim that Mattias Grafström, the FIFA ethics investigator, had been blackmailed: that the blackmail victim was Daniel O’Toole, the head of communications, and that the blackmail was carried out by HR director Kimberly Morris, a media director Bryan Swanson and a director for communications David Farrell.

ESPN also said that Grafström, who had been appointed by FIFA, had been threatened by the ethics investigator, despite the fact that the plan was being implemented. It also said that Grafström had been asked to resign from the plan, and that he had been asked by FIFA to take part in a governance boycott.

The FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan for commercial and operational aspects of FIFA tournaments, as described in material published by The Times and Financial Times, was supported by FIFA, which said that it had been approved by the relevant parties. The plan is intended to provide private investors with 20% of FFE profits.

According to the material, UEFA submitted the plan to FIFA, which involved the World Cup tournament, and said the scheme would not be disclosed; in addition, it said the plan would be implemented. ESPN also said that UEFA planned to vote on the matter at the FIFA Council meeting, which would be held on 19 December, and that the plan would be supported by the majority of FIFA Council members. If the plan were not approved, it would be possible that the “governance boycott” would be carried out.

The material also reported that UEFA’s plan was developed by Arsène Wenger, who is said to have been involved in developing FIFA football. ESPN said that Wenger, who won the “brave and honest” award in the plan, was also involved in the plan. Press Association also reported that Wenger was involved in the project.

According to ESPN, the plan was supported by the FIFA Council, with the majority of votes. The Associated Press said that the FIFA ethics investigator was “deceived” (misled) and Press Association also said that the FIFA ethics investigator was “blackmailed” by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Press Association also said that Infantino denied that the ethics investigator had been threatened by CAF official Lekdja, and that the ethics investigator had been asked to take part in the plan with Qatar, Kuwait, Liverpool, Sri Lanka and India.

Tags: Politics/Sport/Football