The Swiss newspaper "Tribune de Geneva" said today, Monday, that its citizen, Jeanie Infantino, president of the International Football Association (FIFA), had intervened with the public prosecutor to drop the investigation against him.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office had launched an investigation in the beginning of 2016, shortly after Infantino was elected to the presidency of FIFA, over allegations that the latter granted TV broadcast rights contracts to an outside company in the period when he was the Secretary General of the European Union (FIFA).
According to the newspaper, Infantino wrote a letter to his childhood friend, Reynaldo Arnold, who became a prosecutor in Haute-Valais, the birthplace of the two men, that he was "concerned" about the investigation.
"I will try to explain to the Federal Prosecutor's Office that it is in my best interest to clarify everything as quickly as possible and it is clear that I have nothing to do with this issue," Infantino wrote in an email reported by the newspaper.
"The important thing now is for the meeting to be in two weeks. If you want, I can go with you again," said Arnold, who had already helped arrange the first meeting between Attorney General Michael Lauber and Infantino.
The newspaper noted that the meeting was already held on April 22, 2016, adding that its content remains "obscure" and that the Federal Prosecutor's Office "refuses to talk about the issue."
The Federal Prosecutor's Office refused to answer the question "France Presse" about the "Tribune de Geneva" article. The agency did not receive a response from FIFA until midday Monday.
FIFA has always indicated that the meetings between Infantino and the Office of the Prosecutor aim to show that the federation is "ready to cooperate with the Swiss justice system".
In November 2017, "after a third informal meeting" between Infantino and Lauber, the Federal Attorney General's office completed an investigation into the contract signed by Infantino on behalf of UEFA.
The newspaper also spoke of frequent phone calls between Swiss prosecutors and FIFA's attorneys.
"It appears that prosecutors have assisted FIFA in formulating its demands" as a prosecutor, a behavior that "appears to be inconsistent with the FBI's commitment to neutrality," the newspaper said.
According to a report issued by the Supervisory Board of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office reported by the French newspaper "Le Monde" in early March and obtained by "France Press", a person close to Infantino also sought confidential information related to the investigation of the case in July 2015, before seven Months of his election at the head of FIFA.