by Tony Attwood
You may recall that I have been making a bit of a fuss about the way the English media will not, seemingly as a matter of policy, cover events relating to Fifa which have been bubbling away throughout this year.
The Americans are threatening to ensure that companies registered in the USA cannot attend or trade with the 2022 World Cup, and Infantino, the head of Fifa, has been under investigation for attempting to collude with the Swiss Attorney General who was supposedly already investigating Infantino for corruption. Meanwhile in the biggest money laundering scheme I have ever read about, a huge amount of money has moved from Fifa via an Israeli bank, and the bank has been fined $1bn.
But these of course are trivial matters involving funny foreigners who don’t know about real life, so the English newspapers won’t touch the stories. And yet they roll on, and now the current Fifa legal battle has even brought down the most senior legal man in Switzerland, and it is having ramifications throughout football.
Indeed, this really has only just begun and Infantino is most certainly in real trouble.
The story actually began in December 2014 when the Swiss changed the law to bring people attending conventions of international sporting bodies under Swiss jurisdiction. We first noted that in the article Switzerland take a greater interest in Fifa – at last. And exactly as with recent developments the British press had no interest in it. Our story was there, they could have read it, but no… they ignored it all.
Mind you, while the International Olympics Committee recognised the danger of holding meetings in Switzerland and decided to hold its next voting meeting after the introduction of the new Swiss law, in Peru, Fifa with all its arrogance stayed in Switzerland. And the UK media with all their arrogance of “it only matters if it is British” ignored the matter. Only Untold Arsenal thought it worth reporting.
So on 27 May 2015 the Americans moved in and arrested a lot of Fifa execs, and the British media like the Fifa execs were totally taken by surprise. If only they had bothered to read Untold.
Now let’s pick up the latest story (just in case any English newspaper people are thinking, “Bugger, we really missed it all last time by not reading Untold Arsenal, maybe we should start reading it…”)
In May 2018 Rui Pinto, the man behind the Football Leaks revelations, (which revealed all the details of the Manchester City payment manipulations which led to the Uefa case against Manchester City, and which in turn failed because Uefa left it too late to mount its case), revealed that Michael Lauber – the most senior legal official in Switzerland – had met FIFA President Gianni Infantino in March and April 2016.
And the shock and horror of this was that these encounters were secret – as in not recorded by either party.
To see the importance of this – this is the most senior lawman in Switzerland meeting the head of the organisation that had been raided in May 2015, with the raid resulting in numerous arrests by the Americans. And the meeting is in secret, as in “with no one else present” – not even the usual aids and advisers. And this at a time when there was a separate case against Infantino pending in the Swiss courts.
On 21 November 2018 Michael Lauber claimed that these discussions between him and Infantino were necessary to clarify points concerning the complex procedures specific to the world of football.
Undoubtedly a lot of laughter from those in Switzerland who had been involved in arranging the mass arrests in 2015. The prosecutor and the defendant cannot, CANNOT CANNOT have private secret meetings. That is called corruption.
On 18 April 2019 the supervisory authority of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Switzerland (AS-MPC) examined whether a third meeting between the two on June 2017 which they had just found out about. It looked bad for the Attorney General but he held on.
On 11 May 2019 the AS-MPC announced it was starting a disciplinary investigation against its own Attorney General.
On 18 June the Federal Criminal Court reached the view that the meetings of Lauber and Infantino were “at odds” with the rules of procedure. (That is, it was corruption pure and simple).
On 13 September 2019 the legal authorities criticised Michael Lauber for preventing two people from being in his meetings with Infantino, and his office and for not providing requested documents (an old Fifa trick). That’s another big moment – the top legal man STOPPED others from attending and ensured his office did not provide legal documents to others when asked for.
4 March 2020: The investigation into the affair concludes Mr. Lauber has breached his own rules, and lied about his meetings with Gianni Infantino.
21 April 2020: Michael Lauber files an appeal.
2 May 2020: There are calls for the resignation of the Attorney General
20 May 2020 The judicial committee of the Parliament launches a dismissal procedure, the first time ever this has happened in Switzerland.
24 July 2020 : Michael Lauber resigns.
The Swiss are quite clear that the concealment of a third meeting between Lauber and Infantino constitutes in particular a serious violation of the duty of office. Also in a nice twice the court noted that Lauber had “forgotten” that the meetings took place suggesting that this lack of memory itself made Lauber unfit to hold his office.
As a result of all this the Swiss are now considering changes to its legal system, and there is a feeling that the credibility of the Swiss legal system has been undermined by the obvious collusion between Infantino and the top Swiss lawyer.
Interestingly the statement put out as the resignation was accepted said, “We need a strong prosecutor in the fight against money laundering, organised crime and terrorism.” He seemed to be thinking of Fifa.
Of course the English media still ignore this, but Infantino is now in real trouble and the kow-towing that the FA does to Infantino and Fifa in its present guise could well be a total waste of money, and ultimately a supreme embarrassment. The rest of Europe knows what is going on, but the poor dear FA, who restrict themselves to the English papers, haven’t got a clue.
- Human rights abuses: has our little campaign had unexpected support?
- What do they think in Germany about Manchester City and Uefa
- MP stance on football should fill us all with disgust
- If all lives matter, if slavery is unaccepable, what is the FA doing about Qatar?
- British media universally continues to support modern slavery
Quite incredible our press ignore this sorry tale, they seem to ignore quite a few things.
The sad thing is, even if Infantino is forced out, he will probably just be rep,aced by that human rights abuser that stood against him,
FIFA is long beyond redemption
For his bribery receiving in kind and money, money laundering deposits in banks, also for his other related manipulations of football matters illegally carried out and the deceiving tactics all employed by Gianni Infantino the current Fifa President. But all are to deceive the general public concerned into believing that all at Fifa has gone back to saint hood as it should always be after the former Fifa President Sepp Blatter and the Secretary general Michel Platini were unceremoniously forced out of their Fifa office positions for the serious corruption charges that were leveled against them and the gross violations they both committed at Fifa which the pair chief executive officers of Fifa defend to exonerate themselves consequently leading them to been banned from having anything to do over football matters in the world for a number of years henceforth with. But what of the money they alleged to have embezled, stolen or bribed when there were at Fifa? Have all the wealth they illegally acquired when they were in Fifa collected back from them by the authorities concerned and forfeited to the State? But I think Infantino the now sitting President of Fifa and the organization’s Secretary general have some serious questions which are grave and injurious to their positions at Fifa to answer. Which I think will ultimately also see the duo Fifa super executive officers unceremoniously ejected out of Fifa to similarly follow their predecessors super executive officers out of Fifa who were at one time driven out of the world football governing body that is called Fifa unceremoniously. But I wonder what are the Fifa President and Secretary general past and present have been fifaring at Fifa? Illegal acquisition of money? These Fifa super executives officers have even become very rich before they ascended to the positions of controlling high offices at Fifa. And i assume they must be well placed on high lucrative salary earnings to better their livelihoods for life. But I wonder then what is it that is pushing them to want and seek to have more and more millions and millions of money? And also why are they seeking after having assets that almost could become countless in numbers? Even if they have to dip their hands dipper and dipper into illegal ventures to become super billionaire rich in assets acquisition, they don’t mind? Perhaps it’s insatiable urge to become more and more super rich that has gotten hold of their hearts and driving them hard to commit teft. Hmmm.
Excellent round-up. Haven’t seen this reported anywhere else.
Infantino talked a good game but he was never gonna clean up Platini’s mess. Mobsters have more subtlety than this lot.
excellent reporting as usual by Untold!
Mail on line are covering it.,