Gianni Infantino

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Gianni Infantino (2016)

Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (born March 23, 1970 in Brig , Valais ; resident in Trélex , Vaud ) is a Swiss - Italian football professional and lawyer . From 2009 to 2016 he was General Secretary of the European Football Union ( UEFA ). On February 26, 2016, Infantino was elected President of the World Football Association, FIFA , succeeding Sepp Blatter .

Working life

Gianni Infantino at a European Championship draw (2011)

Infantino studied law and then worked as a lawyer. Before joining UEFA as General Secretary of the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES), he was an advisor to various national and international football bodies at the University of Neuchâtel .

With UEFA from August 2000, he held various offices, including head of the legal and club licensing department from January 2004. From February 1 to May 2007, following the resignation of the Swede Lars-Christer Olsson following the election of Michel Platini as UEFA President, he was interim general manager of the association (followed by Scots David Taylor ) and was then appointed Deputy General Secretary. From October 1, 2009, again as David Taylor's successor, he was Secretary General until his election as FIFA President.

FIFA President

On October 26, 2015, shortly before the deadline, Infantino announced his candidacy for the election of FIFA President to succeed Sepp Blatter . He was initially only to act as a substitute candidate for UEFA until the suspension of his President Michel Platini was lifted , and at the same time declared that he would withdraw as soon as Platini was allowed to vote. However, Platini's suspension was extended to eight years so that Infantino, with UEFA's support, ran against most candidates in FIFA presidential election history. In the election on February 26, 2016 in Zurich, he received 88 votes in the first ballot, in the second ballot he obtained an absolute majority with 115 of 207 votes from the member associations and was thus elected FIFA President. His main opponent in the last round of elections was Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa .

His election promises include increasing the number of World Cup participants from 32 to 40 and doubling the development aid payments for the member associations. When he spoke to the plenary, there was applause when he talked about doubling development aid payments. At the same FIFA Congress, a package of reforms was passed that severely curtailed his own position as President and limited his term of office to twelve years. Instead, from now on, the General Secretary, proposed by Infantino, is to lead the operative business as CEO , while the President and the enlarged Executive Committee (now Council ) represent a kind of supervisory board . An external integrity check must also be carried out on new officials who are to be accepted, and officials are required to disclose their salaries for the first time.

criticism

At the FIFA Congress in May 2016, at Infantino's suggestion, it was decided that by next year the Council could appoint and dismiss all members of the Audit and Compliance Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Disciplinary Committee and the new Governance Committee. Domenico Scala , Head of the Audit & Compliance Committee at FIFA, resigned from his position on the same day. He commented on his resignation as follows:

"I am dismayed by this decision, as it undermines a central pillar of FIFA's good governance and undermines a major achievement of the reforms."

In the wake of this meeting, criticism of Infantino grew. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, there are minutes and statements from high-ranking FIFA employees who suggest that the new President is not willing to reform. However, this is vehemently denied by Infantino.

In February 2017, media reported on Infantino's efforts to replace the two heads of the FIFA Ethics Committee at the FIFA Congress in Bahrain in May and to part with the US law firm Quinn Emanuel. This investigates internal processes at FIFA on behalf of the American judiciary. Criminal law experts have warned that this action in the US could place FIFA under suspicion of Mafia under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and result in heavy fines. At the same time, the Council of Europe has announced its own investigation by FIFA. DFB President Reinhard Grindel warned Infantino against the dismissal of the FIFA ethics commissioners.

According to FIFA Council members, Infantino is said to have presented an offer worth billions for the sale of events at the council meeting in Bogotá in March 2018, the content of which he did not want to reveal due to a confidentiality agreement. The council is said to have been upset about the secret negotiation. Due to a lack of information, they rejected the offer and discussed whether there were personal agreements between Infantino and the rights partner.

According to the files, Infantino wanted to intervene in the decision-making process for the 2026 World Cup. Infantino tried to transfer responsibility from the FIFA Congress to a small task force made up of its own people so that they could decide whether the candidates meet all the conditions to be eligible for election in June. In this way, Infantino could have prevented Morocco from being awarded the contract for the 2026 World Cup in advance. One possible reason is that Infantino expects to earn more money at a World Cup in the USA. However, Asians, Europeans and the African association CAF , which is behind Morocco's application, have made it clear to Infantino that they will not accept an early expulsion of Morocco.

At the end of July 2020, the Swiss public prosecutor opened criminal proceedings against Infantino because of Infantino's meeting with the Swiss federal prosecutor Michael Lauber, who was investigating him . Such criminal proceedings were also initiated against the Valais senior public prosecutor, Rinaldo Arnold, who was attending the meeting and a school friend of Infantino's. It will be sought against Lauber after his immunity has been lifted. The specially appointed special prosecutor sees signs of criminal behavior such as abuse of office (Art. 312 StGB), violation of official secrecy (Art. 320 StGB) and favoritism (Art. 305 StGB), or, in the case of Infantino, signs of inciting these offenses.

Private

Infantino grew up as the child of Italian guest workers in Brig, Switzerland, where he played football at FC Folgore (later FC Brig-Glis) in the 5th division in his youth . His father came from Reggio Calabria and was a newspaper delivery man , his mother came from Valcamonica .

Infantino is married and has four children. He speaks Italian, German, English, French as well as Spanish and Arabic and, in addition to Swiss citizenship, has Italian citizenship . His wife is from Lebanon , where she was Deputy Secretary General of the football association.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Gianni Infantino  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Gianni Infantino is the new FIFA President , faz.net, from February 26, 2016
  2. The promises of the "Losfee" are Europe's only answer , diepresse.com, February 20, 2016
  3. UEFA moves away from Michel Platini. sport1.de, October 26, 2015, accessed on January 19, 2016.
  4. ^ Infantino as Platini replacement - record number of applicants for FIFA President. On brf.be, October 26, 2015, accessed on February 29, 2016.
  5. Why Gianni Infantino became the new FIFA President. In: Die Welt from February 26, 2016, accessed on February 27, 2016.
  6. ^ "Infantino really has to implement the reform package". From deutschlandfunk.de, February 27, 2016, accessed on February 29, 2016.
  7. ^ First congress under Infantino: Fifa makers will choose their controllers themselves in future. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved May 15, 2016 .
  8. ^ After the congress decision: Fifa chief supervisor Scala resigns. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved May 15, 2016 .
  9. Michael Ashelm: FAZ exclusive: Statements and protocols burden FIFA President Infantino . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . May 27, 2016, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed May 27, 2016]).
  10. Felix Bingesser, Andreas Böni: Exclusive! Fifa boss Gianni Infantino is now striking back: "These are deliberately scattered fairy tales!" In: Blick online from August 28, 2016.
  11. Infantino's open power struggle: Fifa apparently wants to get rid of ethics commissioners.
  12. Fifa's ethics watchdog before the end ( Memento from March 16, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  13. Infantino and the annoying Fifa controllers.
  14. Does Infantino want to get rid of independent controllers?
  15. Grindel warns Infantino: "Completely wrong signal".
  16. Thomas Kistner: A proposal that reveals a lot about the plight of FIFA. In: sz.de. Retrieved April 10, 2018 .
  17. Thomas Kistner: Trump and Infantino, Morocco's Accidental Election Workers. In: sz.de. April 30, 2018, accessed April 30, 2018 .
  18. Criminal proceedings against Fifa President Infantino opened , faz.net, July 30, 2020
  19. ^ Application for the waiver of the immunity of Federal Prosecutor Michael Lauber and opening of criminal proceedings against Gianni Infantino , press release of the Swiss Federal Council, July 30, 2020
  20. Infantino: "Cambiero tutto" , raisport.rai.it, February 26, 2016
  21. ^ Chi è Gianni Infantino, il nuovo presidente della Fifa , unita.tv, February 26, 2016
  22. a b Peter M. Birrer, Thomas Schifferle: Who is this man from Brig actually? in Tages-Anzeiger on February 26, 2016
  23. Blick on February 25, 2016, This is how Brig fevered with Infantino (accessed on February 27, 2016)
  24. ^ Gianni Infantino: "A Trélex, ma famille et moi, nous nous sentons à la maison". In: lacote.ch from February 4, 2016.
  25. ^ Gianni Infantino nuovo presidente della Fifa , sport.leonardo.it, February 26, 2016
  26. Fifa presidential candidate in an interview before the election - "I also fly Economy" in: Blick from February 21, 2016.