Infantino ‘made a deal with City’
GIANNI INFANTINO has defended his position in Manchester City’s Financial Fair Play settlement. And the FIFA president says players who become part of a breakaway Super League will be banned from the World Cup. The Football Leaks emails published by the German magazine Der Spiegel show that when Infantino worked for UEFA as general secretary he had a secret deal over FFP sanctions with the owners at City and Paris Saint-Germain.
The clubs were both fined 20million euros (£17.5m) but leaked emails say City appeared to have kept secret from UEFA other spending and income.
“We were doing our job and saved the system and saved European club football,” said Infantino.
“We worked with the information we had at the time. If new information has come out I’m sure UEFA will look at it.” More revelations from Der Spiegel yesterday, based on documents released by Football Leaks, claimed Pep Guardiola signed a deal to become City manager just two months into his final season with Bayern Munich.
He began work in July 2016 after completing a three-year spell with Bayern.
Last week the leaks centred on talks about a Super League which would include five teams from the Premier League.
But Infantino said: “You are either in or you are out. If there are players who don’t play organised football then that encompasses everything – national leagues, confederation competitions, the Euros and the World Cup.
“We have seen for many years these attempts to break away. It is up to us to protect football and come up with solutions that benefit clubs and football.
“The Club World Cup is the answer to any attempt to break away. It is a competition that remains within the football structures and generates much more revenues for the clubs but also much more revenues for solidarity.”