By Andrew Warshaw
August 5 – FIFA’s supposed new era of credibility and respectability under Gianni Infantino took a decisive and controversial twist today when he was cleared of any misconduct despite a string of serious and persistent allegations over ethics breaches.
After weeks of rumour and speculation about whether Infantino, who took over from Sepp Blatter in February, would be sanctioned, FIFA’s ethics committee, in a judgment that will cause surprise verging on disbelief in some quarters, effectively ruled he had no case to answer by announcing it was taking no action.
When he came power little over five months ago, Infantino promised to sweep away FIFA’s toxic scandal-tainted past. But almost as soon as the ink was dry on his presidency, the former number two at UEFA became embroiled in controversy over the way in which he set about securing his power base, allegedly hiring and firing staff, weakening the clout of FIFA’s independent bodies, using unauthorised private jets and inflating his expenses. Most recently, the heads of the travel department and general secretariat suddenly left FIFA, allegedly after becoming whistleblowers.
Yet none of that persuaded FIFA’s ethics committee, which revealed for the first time that it had conducted both preliminary and formal proceedings, that he had broken any rules.
In a statement, FIFA said its investigatory chamber had “decided to conclude its investigations” and finding that there was “no violation” of the ethics code. It added that the adjudicatory chamber had accepted the decision.
The preliminary investigations, which included interviews with a number of witnesses as well as Infantino himself, were led by Djimrabaye Bourngar, deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber and focused on potential breaches of art. 13 (General rules of conduct), art. 15 (Loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest) and art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts) of the FCE.
“The evidence gathered suggested prima facie cases of FCE violations with regard to several flights taken by Mr Infantino during the first months of his presidency, human resources matters related to hiring processes in the President’s office, and Mr Infantino’s refusal to sign the contract specifying his employment relationship with FIFA,” the statement said.
“In accordance with art. 28 par. 3 of the FCE, Mr Bourngar decided to open formal proceedings regarding these matters. Other allegations related to expenses and governance issues had also been investigated but did not lead to any prima facie cases. “
The formal part of the proceedings, the statement said, was led by Vanessa Allard but “after examining all relevant evidence thoroughly, Ms Allard concluded that the occurrences related to the flights taken by Mr Infantino did not represent FCE violations.”
“In particular, no relevant situations involving conflicts of interest related to Mr Infantino’s position as FIFA President were identified, and the benefits enjoyed by Mr Infantino were not considered improper in the light of applicable FIFA rules and regulations.”
“Moreover, Ms Allard found that the human resources matters, as well as Mr. Infantino’s conduct with regard to his contract with FIFA, if at all, constituted internal compliance issues rather than an ethical matter. As such, the final report prepared by Ms Allard concluded that no ethical breaches had been committed by Mr Infantino.”
Infantino, currently in Rio de Janeiro where he is attending the opening ceremony of the Olympics, could not disguise his relief, saying he was “pleased that, following a thorough review, the investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has determined that “no violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE) has been committed.”
“With this matter now resolved, the President and the FIFA administration will continue to focus on developing football as well as their efforts to improve the organisation,” said a statement. “Tangible progress has been made in key areas such as ensuring that those who have acted against the interests of football are identified and held to account, improving FIFA’s governance and repairing its reputation, and restoring trust with its stakeholders. This critical work will continue.
“The President would like to thank all those who cooperated with the Ethics Committee to ensure that the facts were heard and the truth prevailed.”
The timing of today’s announcement will not be lost, however, on those who have followed the narrative surrounding Infantino, handily distanced far away from Fifa headquarters in Zurich and not due to return until Saturday. Those with knowledge of how the ethics process works are curious as to why, with so many interviews having taken place several weeks ago, there had been such a lengthy delay in announcing a verdict.
Questions are also bound to be asked about whether Infantino was protected by ethics officials who in the past have invariably announced whether proceedings against individuals have been opened before verdicts have been reached. Also why his conduct – especially the now-infamous flights Infantino took to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar and to Rome to visit the Pope – did not constitute conflict of interest. That subject was being dissected during a conference call straight after the judgement that cleared Infantino.
Furthermore Infantino’s critics will be scratching their heads as to why others have been sanctioned for seemingly far less serious allegations of misconduct. Only last week former German football boss Wolfgang Niersbach, for instance, was slapped with a one-year ban for simply failing to tell ethics officials what he knew about suspect dealings regarding Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid.
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