Paris (AFP)

The noose is tightening around Gianni Infantino: amid suspicion of collusion with the resigning head of the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office, whom he met informally in 2016 and 2017, the FIFA president was the subject of Thursday initiation of criminal proceedings against him.

The sprawling "Fifagate" corruption case has not stopped making waves in the football world. On Thursday, the extraordinary federal prosecutor Stefan Keller, appointed a few weeks ago to study complaints against Gianni Infantino in particular, considered "that there (are) elements of reprehensible behavior in connection with (a) meeting between the Attorney General Michael Lauber, the President of Fifa and the first prosecutor of Upper Valais "Rinaldo Arnold.

"The offenses concerned are the abuse of authority", the "violation of official secrecy" and "obstruction of criminal proceedings", it is stated in a press release from the Supervisory Authority of the Public Prosecutor's Office. the Confederation (AS-MPC).

As a result, Stefan Keller decided to open criminal proceedings against MM. Infantino and Arnold, and asked "the competent parliamentary committees to authorize the opening of criminal proceedings against" Mr. Lauber, a necessary step in Switzerland when it comes to investigating " members of authorities or magistrates elected by the Federal Assembly ".

Fifa announced in the wake that it took "note of the decision". "Fifa, including its president, remains at the disposal of the Swiss authorities and will, as it has always done, fully cooperate in this investigation," said the International Federation in a statement.

- Informal meetings -

Michael Lauber, 54-year-old former Swiss Federal Prosecutor, has been in the crosshairs for many months for his management of procedures relating to "Fifagate" which he supervised. After many twists and turns, he ended up resigning last week while continuing to dismiss charges of lying.

Several informal meetings between this magistrate and Gianni Infantino, which took place between 2016 and 2017, had been revealed in the press and in particular by the Football Leaks in 2018, arousing suspicions of collusion.

In this case, however, no procedure had been opened so far against the Italian-Swiss boss of the world football body, in place since 2016 after the departure of Sepp Blatter victim of "Fifagate", and reelected for a second term that runs until 2023.

But Infantino, 50, Lauber and others have been the subject of at least four criminal complaints, which prosecutor extraordinary Stefan Keller has been tasked with investigating. The examination of two of these complaints was enough for the magistrate to pronounce the opening of criminal proceedings on Thursday.

"As President of Fifa, it has been my goal from day one, and it remains my goal, to support the authorities in the investigation of past irregularities at Fifa," Gianni Infantino said Thursday.

- "Fifagate" -

Fifa has never denied the meetings between Mr. Infantino and Mr. Lauber, explaining that they were intended to show that the international federation, which has the status of complainant in certain proceedings of "Fifagate", was "ready to collaborate with Swiss justice ".

"Meeting the Swiss Attorney General is perfectly legitimate and perfectly legal," FIFA insisted Thursday, citing its president.

But the legal vagueness in which these meetings took place raises the question of a potential collusion between Fifa and Swiss justice.

In total, more than twenty procedures opened for five years in Switzerland have still not found an epilogue.

Some 45 natural and legal persons have been indicted to date by the American justice in "Fifagate", having uncovered a vast system of corruption, which undermined especially the federations of the American continent.

This scandal had its biggest impact in May 2015, during a raid by the Zurich police against FIFA officials at a large hotel in the city, where several leaders were arrested on the sidelines of the election of the president of Fifa.

© 2020 AFP