Infantino cleared of wrongdoing by Fifa ethics panel

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been cleared by the body's ethics committee in the case of alleged misconduct over use of private flights.

The clearance was made today (Friday) after conducting both preliminary and formal investigation proceedings. The Committee concluded that no violation of the Code of Ethics had been committed by the Fifa president.

Fifa said the preliminary investigations and the formal proceedings included a large number of interviews with witnesses and Infantino himself, as well as extensive analysis of evidence, and were supported by independent legal opinions.

“Moreover, Ms Allard found that the human resources matters, as well as Mr. Infantino’s conduct with regard to his contract with Fifa, if at all, constituted internal compliance issues rather than an ethical matter. As such, the final report prepared by Ms Allard concluded that no ethical breaches had been committed by Mr Infantino.”
Today’s ruling comes amid claims in recent months that documents have been deliberately leaked in order to destabilise the position of Infantino, who was elected as Fifa’s new president in February.

In a statement released by Fifa on behalf of Infantino, the Fifa president said: “With this matter now resolved, the president and the Fifa administration will continue to focus on developing football as well as their efforts to improve the organisation. Tangible progress has been made in key areas such as ensuring that those who have acted against the interests of football are identified and held to account, improving Fifa’s governance and repairing its reputation, and restoring trust with its stakeholders. This critical work will continue.

“The president would like to thank all those who cooperated with the Ethics Committee to ensure that the facts were heard and the truth prevailed.”