Criminal proceedings initiated against FIFA chief Infantino
Zurich: A Swiss special prosecutor has initiated a criminal case against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his dealings with Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber. Authorities in Switzerland said on Thursday that prosecutors have found indications of criminal conduct in relation to the meetings between the pair.Last week, a court had found that Lauber, while investigating corruption cases related to FIFA, had tried to hide a meeting with Infantino and lied to his supervisors in the Swiss judiciary. He subsequently offered his resignation and is set to leave the post in August.”This concerns abuse of public office, breach of official secrecy, assisting offenders and incitement to these acts,” said the AB-BA, the authority overseeing Switzerland’s Federal prosecutors, in a statement.Infantino had earlier denied any wrongdoing. “For a long time I have not spoken about this because the whole thing is absurd,” Infantino told reporters at the FIFA Council Meeting in June. “Let me clarify once and for all. To meet the chief prosecutor of Switzerland is perfectly legitimate and perfectly legal. It’s no violation of anything. On the contrary, it’s also part of the fiduciary duties of the President of FIFA.”It’s totally legitimate [for FIFA] to offer to contribute… hoping that those who have done criminal acts will be held to account,” said Infantino. (IANS)
Schalke chairman quits
Gelsenkirchen:The chairman of German soccer club Schalke stepped down Tuesday after bowing to increasing pressure following a huge outbreak of coronavirus infections at one of his company’s slaughterhouses. Schalke fans had been calling for 64-year-old billionaire Clemens Tönnies’s resignation since he made racist comments about Africans at a public meeting in Paderborn last August. Tönnies leaves after 26 years on the board of the Bundesliga club and 19 as chairman. On Saturday, up to 1,500 Schalke supporters formed a socially distanced human chain near the club’s stadium to protest against its management as the team slumped to a 4-0 loss to Freiburg. The result extended the club’s longest Bundesliga run without a win to 16 games. But the outbreak of about 1,400 cases of COVID-19 at the Tönnies Group’s slaughterhouse in his hometown of Rheda-Wiedenbrück was the main reason for the fans’ anger. (AP)