Infantino Denies Uefa Paid Off Alleged Lover During General Secretary Role
Key Points
- Uefa confirmed it made a departure payment to a woman alleged to have had a relationship with Infantino while he served as general secretary from 2009 to 2016.
- Infantino's spokesman told the Telegraph the Fifa president "strongly denies these categorically untrue allegations" and stated no employee has ever raised a complaint.
- The allegations emerge as Infantino faces pressure to resign over his aborted plan to sell World Cup stakes to private investors.
The allegations place additional pressure on Infantino, who joined Uefa in 2000 and became its general secretary in 2009 before being appointed Fifa president in 2016. The 56-year-old is already facing calls to resign over his aborted plans to sell World Cup stakes to private investors. Infantino apologized for "errors" in those controversial proposals during a meeting in Morocco on Wednesday but did not step down.
Infantino received backing from senior executives at that Morocco meeting, and both Conmebol, the South American confederation, and the Confederation of African Football have supported him. Mexico and Argentina's football associations have also backed the Fifa president. However, European teams have threatened to boycott Fifa events despite the World Cup investment plans being abandoned, citing unmet conditions.
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The Telegraph investigation's timing compounds existing governance concerns at Fifa. While regional confederations have rallied behind Infantino, the European football community's threatened boycott demonstrates the fracturing support for his leadership. The disclosure of Uefa's payment and Infantino's categorical denial creates a factual dispute that could affect his standing as the organization faces questions about internal oversight and transparency.
Sources: BBC Sport and other international news outlets.
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