FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing a fresh scandal after reports emerged that UEFA paid off his alleged “lover” while he headed the European football body.
The report comes amid mounting calls for Infantino’s resignation over his controversial proposal last month to sell private equity stakes in the World Cup and other FIFA events. Infantino became FIFA president in February 2016 after 16 years at UEFA, including as secretary general from 2009 to 2016.
The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing colleagues and senior figures, that Infantino, who is married with four children, had a junior UEFA employee as a “lover” during his tenure within the organization. It claimed he promoted the woman to a management position during the alleged relationship and gave her a 30% pay rise, taking her salary to 160,000 Swiss francs ($198,000).
Infantino was allegedly confronted over the affair by then-UEFA president Michel Platini, and it was later agreed the woman would leave with a pay-off of at least six figures from UEFA funds. UEFA also allegedly paid for her to attend an MBA course at a business school charging about $60,000 a year. The report does not name the woman.
UEFA confirmed the pay-off to The Telegraph on Friday but insisted the departure payment and MBA fees were “in line” with regulations at the time. A FIFA spokesman, however, said Infantino denied the allegations as “categorically untrue” and “defamatory.”
The report comes less than a month after Infantino faced a backlash over plans to create a $20 billion commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), and sell private investors a 20% stake in FIFA’s tournament rights. The deal would have given investors a share in the commercial interests of FIFA’s top men’s and women’s competitions, including the World Cup. The proposed investors included a firm linked to Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Announced nine days after this year’s World Cup ended, the plan was denounced by critics as privatizing the sport. It collapsed after UEFA’s 55 members unanimously threatened to boycott all future FIFA competitions unless it was scrapped. UEFA and two other continental confederations, North America’s Concacaf and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation), also pursued a motion of no confidence against Infantino.
Following a crisis meeting in Morocco this week, FIFA confirmed the plan had been shelved and admitted it “should have been handled differently.” In a leaked letter to FIFA’s vice-presidents, council and member associations, Infantino said he “sincerely apologized” for his handling of the situation.
However, UEFA said this week its boycott would continue until FIFA guaranteed it would never allow private ownership of its governance. It also reiterated that it had lost confidence in Infantino’s presidency. While stopping short of explicitly calling for his removal, UEFA had previously warned that “no option should be off the table” in reviewing Infantino’s leadership.
The governance battle follows a crisis-hit World Cup this year that was marred by political controversy, visa bans, sky-high ticket prices, and disputed VAR decisions. FIFA also faced criticism for lifting US striker Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension following reported lobbying by Trump.
Previously, Infantino faced scrutiny over his close ties to Trump after awarding the US leader FIFA’s inaugural peace prize in December. The New York Post reported last month that Trump wants Infantino to become the next UN secretary-general.
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