August 25 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s predilection for private jet travel looks likely to cause him more discomfort than a trip in economy class.
New information released by Danish publication Extra Bladet details a series of flights taken by Infantino that could be considered as gifts and as such would likely break FIFA’s own guidelines.
The concerns amongst FIFA staffers over the flights taken were so great that they brought them to the attention of FIFA’s Ethics body in 2016. Their concern was that the flights were taken at a time when it could be deemed there was a clear conflict of interest (as FIFA prepared for the 2018 World Cup in Russia) leading to potential corruption and external influence over the FIFA president’s ability to make independent decisions.
Extra Bladet has seen papers confirming one series of flights that raise the integrity issues that FIFA Ethics in 2016 were so quick to dismiss – a new group of Ethics officials were installed, picked by Infantino in 2016, after he had removed the previously independent Ethics staff.
The private jet trip began in April 2016 when Infantino and his executive assistant Mattias Grafström were scheduled to visit 2018 World Cup hosts Russia and 2022 hosts Qatar.
FIFA’s travel department bought round-trip airline tickets for Zurich-Moscow-Doha-Zurich.
Three days before the trip to Moscow on April 15, Grafström told the travel department saying they would not need the tickets saying they would fly with Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko in his private jet – identification letters P4-SUN.
From Moscow, Infantino and Grafström were scheduled to fly with Qatar Airways to Doha on 20 April at 20.10. They instead flew an hour later by private jet to Doha on a jet owned by Gazprom, the Russian energy company that is among FIFA’s main sponsors.
From Doha, Infantino and Grafström were to have flown to Zurich on April 22 at 01.30 with Qatar Airways but instead flew via a private jet allegedly provided by the Qatari Emir.
Ekstra Bladet says the original airline tickets were booked for Infantino at a cost 48,000 kroner (€6,450). The value of the private jets is calculated at somewhere between 720,000 kroner (€96,750) and 950,000 kroner (€127,650). This is all outlined in an 11-page memo to FIFA’s ethics committee, dated 23 May 2016.
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