Beyond any doubt Infantino is getting his way. Next: Fifa will leave Zurich

 

 

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by Tony Attwood

As we have so often pointed out, Fifa, or rather Infantino (who at the moment for all purposes is Fifa) wants out of Zurich.  The reason is simple.  He is very seriously implicated in a legal case involving the head of the Swiss judicial system, and should he return to Switzerland it is likely that he will go for trial for the Swiss equivalent of preventing the course of justice.

For the moment however he has escaped that, and in our most recent article on the subject, Is Fifa about to follow Infantino and move to the Persian Gulf, we suggested that as a result of the current law case “Fifa may be leaving Switzerland for the Persian Gulf….”

Now Blick, the Swiss newspaper is running the headline “Fifa wants to leave Zurich.”   Of course there is nothing of this in the English media because they continue to bend the knee to whatever Fifa wants to do.  In fact they now do it so much I wouldn’t be surprised to find most of them being partly financed by Fifa..

And now we have some backup to our supposition not just from Blick but also from Sepp Blatter, whom Blick calls “the deposed pope of football.”    And as they point out, “Even if he is preparing to follow a World Cup for the first time from his living room, the Valaisan still receives some internal information.”

For Blick has been told by Blatter that, “The official documents relating to the Fifa electoral congress have been sent to the national federations from Doha.   Which is interesting, since it did not pass through the main office in Zurich.”

Of course the current president, Gianni Infantino, still wanted for questioning in Zurich, may want to tell anyone who is willing to listen that “Fifa remains in Zurich!”, but Blatter (who after all knows a thing or two about Fifa and corruption) is convinced that this is not the case.  “The fact that Infantino wants to leave Zurich is an open secret,” he recently stated.

So the movement of Fifa away from the investigating eyes of legal authority is now not just a rumour being picked up and rebroadcast by Untold, following on from the fact that Infantino moved to Qatar.  Then he moved his business empire to Qatar.  Then he moved his family to Qatar. And quite probably he has moved his fortune to Qatari banks.  

Which means that although the Swiss judicial system might still pursue him for corrupting, well, the Swiss judicial system, Fifa will remain immune, gathering money through corruption and handing it out to its chums.

Incidentally the competition department of Fifa has also gone – moving to Paris at the behest of PSG and its owner left for Paris.  In effect the competition division of Fifa is owned by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar,

although PSG is in Paris Fifa most certainly does not want to be there because under French law its employees would then benefit from almost permanent employment status.   In Fifa the constant change of employees is a central concept.  It allows things to get done.

In the media in Europe (but as ever not in the UK) reports are circulating that the sponsorship and marketing division of Fifa will relocate to Delaware in the USA next year which has the most advantageous taxation regime.  It is widely being stated that employment contracts of Fifa staff have been modified to fit with Delaware legal requirements.

And how will Fifa explain this?  By noting that the next world cup fiasco will be in North America.  Meanwhile Infantino remains the only candidate for his job when the election comes around again next year.

• Being against the Qatar world cup is not prejudice and bias. It is a perfectly reasonable stance