Gianni Infantino

cookster

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Didn't take long!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35966433

New Fifa president Gianni Infantino signed off on a contract with two businessmen who have since been accused of bribery, leaked documents reveal.

Hugo and Mariano Jinkis bought TV rights for Uefa Champions League football and immediately sold them on for almost three times the price.

The 2006 contract was signed off by Infantino when he was a Uefa director.

It is among the 11 million documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Uefa initially denied doing business with any of the 14 people who have been indicted by the FBI in its investigation into corruption in world football.

It has now told the BBC the TV rights were sold to the highest bidder in an open and competitive tender process.

A senior Fifa source has told the BBC the deal should be examined by the governing body's ethics committee in the interests of transparency.

What is this all about?
Hugo and Mariano Jinkis are fighting extradition from Argentina to the United States.

In May 2015, US prosecutors alleged that, as the owners of Cross Trading, they paid millions of dollars in bribes to South American football officials over several years in order to gain lucrative television rights for regional football tournaments.

It is claimed the money was paid to senior football officials in exchange for cheap broadcasting rights that could then be sold on for a substantial profit.

Infantino is named on a contract with Cross Trading that concerns the Ecuadorian rights for Uefa Champions League football between 2006-7 and 2008-9.

Cross Trading, an offshore company registered to the tiny Pacific island of Niue, paid $111,000 (£78,000) for those rights.

Then, according to leaked documents, it sold them to Ecuadorian TV broadcaster Teleamazonas for $311,170 (£220,000).

Cross Trading also paid $28,000 (£20,000) for the rights to the Uefa Super Cup, selling those to Teleamazonas for $126,200 (£89,000).

There is no evidence to suggest Infantino received a bribe relating to the 2006 contract with Cross Trading, and no suggestion Teleamazonas was in any way complicit in any wrongdoing.

At the time, Infantino was the director of legal services with European football's governing body, Uefa.

Cross Trading also has links to Juan Pedro Damiani, a member of Fifa's ethics committee who has already been placed under internal investigation.

More from the Fifa crisis
Infantino succeeds Blatter as Fifa president Bans reduced to six years for Blatter & Platini
'We'll restore Fifa's image - Infantino Blatter and Platini get eight-year bans
Fifa must get World Cup bidding process right Fifa suspect Eugenio Figueredo faces extradition to US
What is Uefa's response?
Uefa insists it has done nothing wrong and dealt with Cross Trading because the company was acting as the buying agents for Teleamazonas.

A Uefa spokesman said the rights were sold following an "open, competitive, tender process".

He added the bid from Teleamazonas was accepted because it was "considerably more" than that from a rival broadcaster.

The spokesman added what Teleamazonas then did with those rights was "their business, not ours".

Uefa points out the Cross Trading contract was one of many hundreds of deals it conducts in relation to Champions League TV rights and comprises a tiny amount of its overall income.

"The TV contract in question was signed by Gianni Infantino since he was one of several Uefa directors empowered to sign contracts at the time," read a Uefa statement.

"As you will have observed, the contract was also co-signed by another Uefa director. It's standard practice."

What happens now?

Infantino played in a charity game in Bolivia shortly after his appointment as Fifa president
The revelations are potentially damaging for both Infantino and Fifa.

It is also the second setback for world football's governing body in recent days.

Damiani is facing an internal investigation into suspected links with Eugenio Figueredo, another allegedly corrupt football official.

Infantino became president of Fifa on 26 February, succeeding Sepp Blatter as boss of world football's crisis-hit governing body.

On his election, the former Uefa general secretary pledged to "restore the image" of Fifa.

But the BBC understands both Uefa and Infantino have not disclosed the transaction to the FBI.

Uefa says it has not been contacted by the FBI in connection with the Cross Trading contract or any other deal.

"As regards Mr Infantino, we are not aware of the FBI asking him any question in relation to this contract or any other contract," read a Uefa statement.

"Of course, if Uefa is asked to co-operate or provide information in connection with a US Department of Justice investigation, then it will do so."

As for Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, a lawyer acting for the father and son did not reply to a request for comment.

How did we find out about this?
It is down to a leak of more than 11 million documents from the internal files of Mossack Fonseca.

Mossack Fonseca is a Panama-based law firm that specialises in helping the wealthy and powerful set up offshore companies, like Cross Trading.

The documents were obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

BBC Panorama and the Guardian newspaper are among 107 media organisations in 78 countries that have been analysing the documents.
 
As night follows day... another bent man in charge follows the last bent man in charge. Why did we think it would be any different when they promote from within?
 
You don't rise high in corrupt businesses without being corrupt.

You can't.
 
It was crystal clear to anyone outside FIFA and involved in football in any capacity - administrator, player, or fan - that the whole stinking edifice that was and is FIFA, should have been dismantled and another organisation put in its place. It's the same old, same old! And is anyone surprised.
 
I don't see that that article has anything more than insinuation against Infantino. Signing off on something is not necessarily a sign of corruption, and I don't think it makes even a reasonable case against him as it is written.

UEFA have clearly not been truthful/accurate about dealing with these people, but I don't know what they were asked/said or how involved Infantino was in it.
 
The whole lot should be cleared out and someone not previously connected to FIFA put in charge.
 

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