September 28 – With the pressure mounting, Gianni Infantino has reportedly again asked the Swiss prosecutor who opened an investigation against him to explain exactly why he is being targeted.
According to the French sports paper l’Equipe, FIFA have sent a new request for access to the file of special prosecutor Stefan Keller who opened criminal proceedings against Infantino at the end of July.
L’Equipe says FIFA wrote to Keller on Infantino’s behalf last Thursday asking him to explain “the legal basis” of the investigation which focuses on those notorious undocumented meetings in 2016 and 2017 with former Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber who was forced to resign last month.
“We remain in the dark about the allegations,” l’Equipe quoted a FIFA spokesman as saying.
The probe against Infantino relates to suspicion of abuse of authority, violation of official secrecy and obstruction of criminal proceedings. Swiss lawmakers have already agreed to Keller’s request to lift the immunity from prosecution from which Lauber had benefitted until he resigned.
FIFA’s legal team has reportedly asked the Swiss authorities several times to replace Keller with someone more experienced.
“I do not want to condemn him, but he is a judge in the canton of Obwalden , which has 37,000 inhabitants, ” l’Equipe said they were told last month by Jean-Pierre Méan, one of the FIFA lawyers. “He is not used to these things.”
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