Extraordinary prosecutor to investigate meetings between Swiss legal chief and FIFA boss Infantino
Lausanne: An extraordinary prosecutor was appointed yeterto examine criminal complaints made against Switzerland’s attorney-general Michael Lauber and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said that Stefan Keller, president of the country’s Supreme Court as well as of the Administrative Tribunal of the Canton of Obwalden, will “examine the criminal complaints transmitted to the OAG by the presidents of the Federal Council”.
The complaints target Lauber and Infantino “as well as other people”, the OAG’s statement said. A Swiss parliamentary commission decided in May to open proceedings as part of an investigation over a number of alleged secret meetings between Lauber and Infantino.
Lauber was suspected of “serious violation of the duties of office either intentionally or by gross negligence” and of violating “several duties of office” by meeting Infantino on three occasions in 2016 and 2017.
Three criminal complaints were made on June 11 to the OAG, which said it has since received one other related complaint. If the extraordinary prosecutor decides there is enough evidence for a case against Lauber, he will request that criminal proceedings be opened, the statement said.
Lauber, 54, has already been sanctioned to the tune of an 8% salary deduction, which he has appealed before a federal tribunal. FIFA responded by saying it “welcomed” the decision.
FIFA has explained that the meetings were intended to show that the international football federation, which has the status of complainant in certain procedures, was “ready to collaborate with Swiss justice”.
However, the legal uncertainty surrounding the meetings raises the question of possible collusion between FIFA and the Swiss justice system.
EX-LIVERPOOL STRIKER MILAN BAROS SET TO RETIRE AT 38
Former Liverpool, Aston Villa and Czech Republic striker Milan Baros said yesterday he would call time on his playing career at the end of the season. “My head would like to go on, but the body has said stop,” the 38-year-old Baros said on Banik Ostrava’s club website.
Baros, who also played for Portsmouth, Lyon and Galatasaray, rose to prominence at Euro 2004, a tournament which he finished as the top scorer. Baros won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and ended his international career after Euro 2012, having scored 41 goals in 93 games for the Czech Republic.
PAULO SOUSA QUITS AS BORDEAUX COACH
Former Portuguese international Paulo Sousa resigned as coach of French
Ligue 1 side Bordeaux on Thursday after just over a year in charge. The 49-year-old Sousa, who led the team to a modest 12th place last season, apparently told his players in training that he was leaving.
He arrived in March 2019 after a short spell in China and was under contract until June 2022. Sousa, a two-time Champions League winner as a player, starred for Benfica and Juventus in his playing days. He has held numerous coaching jobs including spells with Swansea, Leicester and QPR in the English leagues.