GENEVA (AP) — Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, met with special prosecutors in Switzerland on Tuesday. They are looking into his secret meetings with the country’s attorney general as part of a larger investigation of soccer officials.
In 2020, a former special prosecutor, who was later removed from the case by a Swiss federal court, said that criminal charges should be brought against Infantino for possible incitement to abuse of public office and breach of official secrecy.
The case that could involve Infantino is now moving forward in his home country. This is happening just a few weeks after he oversaw the World Cup in Qatar and about two months before FIFA member federations will vote to re-elect him without any opposition.
In an email to The Associated Press, special prosecutor Hans Maurer said, “A confrontation hearing was held in the proceedings.” He and another prosecutor, Ulrich Weder, were in charge of the hearing.
“However, I don’t have anything to say about when, how big, or why this hearing is happening,” Maurer wrote.
In December 2021, the Swiss parliament chose two prosecutors to continue an investigation into three meetings between Infantino and then-attorney general Michael Lauber that were not recorded. These meetings took place in 2016 and 2017.
The meetings started soon after Infantino was chosen as president of FIFA. His predecessor, Sepp Blatter, had to leave office because of American and Swiss investigations into possible corruption in international soccer.
After news stories about the meetings started coming out in 2018, both Lauber and Infantino said they were normal, but neither could remember any details or say if they had taken notes.
Lauber was fired after it was found that he had lied to and tried to stop a federal office that oversaw prosecutors from getting more information about the meetings.
Tuesday, FIFA didn’t say anything about the questioning of its president.
Soccer’s world governing body has said in the past, “Both FIFA and the FIFA president are ready to work with the authorities on any matter, including the meetings the FIFA president had with the former Attorney General of Switzerland.”
At an election meeting on March 16 in Rwanda, Infantino is expected to be re-elected for another four-year term as president. Even though he has no opponents, his candidature must pass FIFA’s checks on eligibility and honesty.
Blatter and Michel Platini, Infantino’s former boss at the European soccer body UEFA, were cleared of wrongdoing with FIFA money by a Swiss judge last year.
Nearly seven years after the allegations came out, the case went to court, which took Platini out of the running to replace Blatter. Infantino was then put forward as a candidate for the FIFA presidency by European soccer.
