Police Raided UEFA Headquarters On Wednesday

 

Swiss police have raided UEFA's headquarters in Nyon after new FIFA president Gianno Infantino's signature reportedly featured on documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Infantino, who categorically denies any wrongdoing, says he is dismayed and will not accept that his integrity is being doubted.

The leaked documents include a television rights contract from 2006 which was co-signed by Infantino in his former role as UEFA director of legal services. The document was also co-signed by a pair of businessmen who have since been accused of bribery, as part of the United States investigation into corruption at FIFA.
Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, his son, are currently under house arrest in Argentina, US prosecutors having alleged that, as the owners of Argentine company Cross Trading, they paid millions of dollars in bribes to South American football officials in order to secure television rights.

The contract seized by police on Wednesday was co-signed by Infantino on behalf of UEFA and concerned the television rights to the Champions League and other club competitions. Cross Trading bought the rights and then sold them on for almost three times the price to Ecuadorian broadcaster Teleamazonas. UEFA denies any wrongdoing and said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon “UEFA can confirm that today we received a visit from the office of the Swiss Federal Police acting under a warrant and requesting sight of the contracts between UEFA and Cross Trading/Teleamazonas. Naturally, UEFA is providing the Federal Police with all relevant documents in our possession and will cooperate fully”

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said the raid, which was one of two which took place on Wednesday, was part of criminal proceedings directed against persons unknown. A statement from the Swiss OAG said: “The criminal proceedings are in connection with the acquisition of television rights and are at present directed against persons unknown, meaning that, for the time being, no specific individual is being targeted by these proceedings”.