The Swiss newspaper, Tribune de Geneva, yesterday reported that FIFA President Giani Infantino had intervened with the Swiss 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, about 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 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 case," 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 International Federation issued a statement yesterday evening in which it considered that "the content of the special electronic message sent by Infantino to a close friend was exited from its context completely with the sole aim of misleading the reader", adding that the electronic message was obtained through "piracy, which is illegal and criminal act ".
"Not only did Infantino had any reason to lie in this email, but the message never made clear that Infantino wanted to clear himself," he said.
The International Federation clarified that "some of the media mentioned at the time that Infantino was the subject of a criminal investigation linked to a very secondary contract related to television rights in Ecuador for UEFA competitions." With regard to the International Federation, "it comes to a clear and complete lie, the sole purpose of which was to damage the reputation of Mr. Infantino."
The International Federation once again clarified that the meetings between Infantino and the Prosecutor were intended to show that FIFA was "ready to cooperate with Swiss justice", which he had always referred to when talking about this issue.
In November 2017, "after a third informal meeting" between Infantino and Lauber, the Federal Prosecutor's Office completed the investigation into the contract. The newspaper spoke of frequent phone calls between Swiss prosecutors and FIFA's lawyer.
"It appears that public prosecutors helped (FIFA) formulate his demands" as a prosecutor, a behavior "that appears to be inconsistent with the FBI's impartiality commitment," 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 after his election at the head of (FIFA).