FIFA president Gianni Infantino has denied allegations that UEFA made a six-figure severance payment to a woman with whom he was allegedly in a relationship during his time as the organisation’s secretary general.
The allegations, reported by the Daily Telegraph, relate to a payment made while Infantino was working at UEFA. He joined European football’s governing body in 2000 and served as its secretary general from 2009 to 2016.
An Infantino spokesperson strongly rejected the claims, describing them as “categorically untrue”. The spokesperson also said any suggestion that Infantino had engaged in inappropriate conduct or breached UEFA regulations was defamatory.
“No employee at UEFA and FIFA has ever raised a complaint regarding Mr Infantino’s behaviour because there never was an incident where he was involved,” the spokesperson told the newspaper.
UEFA confirmed that a departure payment had been made to the woman but said it did not breach the organisation’s rules. UEFA also said the payment included fees for her to complete an MBA at a local business school.
The governing body said the payments followed the regulations in place at the time. It added that those rules have since been tightened.
The allegations come at a difficult time for Infantino, who is already facing scrutiny over his leadership of FIFA. Pressure has increased following the collapse of plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
Infantino has apologised for what he described as “errors” in the proposal. However, he has resisted calls to resign after receiving support from senior FIFA executives at an emergency meeting in Morocco on Wednesday.
