Infantino is accused of election ‘fix’

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and one of his most powerful executives, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah of Kuwait, are facing fresh allegations of corruption. German magazine Spiegel has accused Infantino of unduly influencing last month’s African Congress (CAF) presidential election in breach of FIFA’s ethics rules.

Sources say no formal procedure has begun against Infantino but his conduct is under scrutiny.

Al-Sabah, who is also president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), has been named in a US Department of Justice (DoJ) indictment claiming he was a key figure in rigging football elections, an allegation exposed by this newspaper a year ago.

‘Sheikh Ahmad is very surprised by such allegations and strongly denies any wrongdoing,’ said a statement from ANOC yesterday.

He came to the DoJ’s attention when Guam FA chief Richard Lai pleaded guilty to receiving almost £800,000 in bribes from football officials, allegedly including Al-Sabah.

Infantino may yet escape censure. At the next FIFA congress, in Bahrain in a fortnight, he will seek to effectively disband their ethics chamber, removing chief ethics judge HansJoachim Eckert and investigator Cornel Borbely from their posts.

Eckert and Borbely have been perceived by Infantino as a thorn in his side.