One more question for Infantino

The FIFA President has been named in the #PanamaPapers and claims he has done no wrong. But he does have questions to answer

Has Gianni Infantino forgotten to tell us something?

Faced with world headlines this week about his mention in the #PanamaPapers, and taking a leaf out of the Blatter Playbook, UEFA went on the record saying it was a “sad day for journalism” that media was focused on these issues.

But was it? A little delving shows that Infantino appears to be sitting on both sides of the table. 

The Offshore Game asks four questions of Infantino. They relate to his time at UEFA when he was head of their legal department and signed-off on two contracts with the quaintly-named Cross Trading company that effectively gave away UEFA TV rights in Ecuador:

1.  Why was UEFA selling broadcast rights to a company based in a country in the South Pacific that hardly anyone could find?

   

2. Cross Trading on-sold the rights for the astonishing margin of three times the original price. Why did UEFA so under-value their assets?

3. Did Infantino not conduct any due diligence into those he was doing business with?

4. How does Infantino explain the fact that he became a Board member of TEAM Marketing one year after one of the deals with Cross Trading was signed?

According to the Offshore Game, Infantino was at best, a careless administrator; at worst, well who knows? 

However, there is one more question.

Why didn’t Infantino or UEFA mention that he can also co-sign contracts and cheques at TEAM Marketing? This is what the Lucerne Commercial Register shows. 

As a Board member at TEAM (a position he apparently still holds), and General Secretary at UEFA, he must have been busy running around the other side of the table to sign contracts between the two organisations for the past nine years. 

It’s a cosy relationship. And an irregular one. Will he tell us more?