Swiss oversight body examines Infantino meetings with top prosecutor

Lauber is responsible for leading Switzerland’s sprawling investigation into corruption within world football and questions have been raised about potentially improper contacts between his office and Infantino, who took charge of FIFA in 2016.

The head of the oversight body (AS-MPC), Niklaus Oberholzer, dismissed a report Wednesday in French sports daily L’Equipe that Lauber was under investigation for possible misconduct.

“Michael Lauber is not under investigation,” Oberholzer said in an email.

“As part of its regular oversight duties, the (AS-MPC) is seeking clarifications concerning, among other things, two meetings between the attorney general and the FIFA president,” he said.

The latest series of Football Leaks has shone a light on Infantino’s relationship with Lauber’s office.

Infantino, himself a Swiss national, allegedly invited prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold to attend the World Cup in Russia, the 2016 FIFA Congress in Mexico and the Champions League final in Milan that year, in exchange for organising meetings with Lauber.

Switzerland has pursued a number of cases since a raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich in May 2015 led to the arrests of a number of FIFA executives and exposed the corrupt underbelly of world football.

Charges have been pressed against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter as well as against FIFA’s former Secretary General Jerome Valcke.

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