FIFA: Ethics Committee closes internal investigation opened in June 2020 against Gianni Infantino

"After examining the relevant documentation and evidence, the chairperson of the investigatory chamber (Maria Claudia Rojas, COL) has decided to file the complaint (against Gianni Infantino, FIFA president) and close the case due to the evident lack of a prima facie case regarding any alleged breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics," announced the international federation on 19/08/2020.

An investigation was opened by the FIFA Ethics Committee, an independent body, following information published in the media from May 2020 implicating Gianni Infantino, a complaint against the latter having also been submitted to the same committee on 21/06/2020.

At the center of this case, three informal meetings - without any minutes recorded - in the 2016-2017 period between Gianni Infantino and Michael Lauber, as well as - for two meetings at least - the first prosecutor of Haut-Valais Rinaldo Arnold, a childhood friend of Gianni Infantino. However, Michael Lauber had been in charge of procedures related to corruption scandals at FIFA since 2015 and the international federation was involved in these…