Swiss prosecutors close criminal proceedings against FIFA President

Special prosecutors in Switzerland have closed criminal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino relating to undisclosed meetings with the country’s former attorney general.

Infantino had meetings with Michael Lauber in 2016, soon after being elected FIFA president, during a sweeping investigation of international soccer in Switzerland and by the U.S Department of Justice. Media reports said another meeting was held in 2017.

Both Infantino and Lauber claimed they did not recall details of the meetings.

Lauber lost his job as the top Swiss federal prosecutor in 2020 in the fallout from the Infantino meetings, after being found to have misled and obstructed an oversight office monitoring federal prosecutors.

The first special prosecutor, Stefan Keller, was later removed by a federal court after Infantino formally complained of bias.

Weder and Maurer took over the case and questioned Infantino in January after his return to Switzerland from the World Cup in Qatar.

They said Thursday the case has been discontinued with no charges brought.

In a triumphalist statement, FIFA said it took note “with extreme satisfaction” of the decision of the prosecutors.

“The outcome of this investigation is obviously entirely unsurprising,” the governing body said. “The only surprising element is only the long time taken to reach such an obvious conclusion.”

Infantino said it was a “full and clear victory for me, for the new FIFA and for justice.”