FIFA’s ethics committee has cleared president Gianni Infantino of breaching the governing body’s regulations after a preliminary investigation.
Infantino is the subject of a criminal investigation after the Swiss special federal public prosecutor opened proceedings last week over meetings Infantino held with the country’s attorney general Michael Lauber in 2016 and 2017.
In a letter to national association bosses, Infantino said the meetings were broadly to discuss the fact that Lauber’s office was investigating a series of criminal allegations in which FIFA was a damaged party.
Neither Lauber nor Infantino have been able to recollect the specific details but both deny any wrongdoing.
Statement from the chairperson of the investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee➡️https://t.co/MGqOIotL5Opic.twitter.com/PxtiBLcXEc— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) August 19, 2020
Fifa said the documents shared by the Swiss courts were examined and that “no aspect of the conduct analysed constitutes a violation”.
A FIFA statement read: “After examining the relevant documentation and evidence, the chairperson of the investigatory chamber has decided to file the complaint and close the case due to the evident lack of a prima facie case regarding any alleged breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
“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, or justify the adoption of any kind of measure, including that of a provisional suspension.”
The committee said some parts of the complaints did not “even fall within the provisions of the FIFA code of ethics, or justify the adoption of any kind of measure, including that of a provisional suspension”.
Infantino was elected in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter, who himself was the subject of criminal proceedings in 2015 and was banned from all FIFA activities by the ethics committee.
