GENEVA — FIFA has launched a robust defence of president Gianni Infantino after allegations concerning his alleged relationship with a former UEFA employee, describing the claims as “categorically untrue” and warning that suggestions of inappropriate conduct or breaches of football’s governing regulations are defamatory.
The allegations, reported by The Telegraph, concern events dating back to Infantino’s tenure as UEFA general secretary between 2009 and 2016, before he was elected FIFA president.
According to the newspaper, UEFA made a six-figure compensation payment to a former employee who it alleged had been in a relationship with Infantino during his time at European football’s governing body. The report further alleged that Infantino had facilitated the employee’s promotion and salary increase.
FIFA, however, strongly rejected the allegations and said there had been no complaint against Infantino concerning his conduct during his time at UEFA or subsequently at FIFA.
“FIFA president Gianni Infantino strongly denies these allegations, and they are categorically untrue,” FIFA said in a statement to The Telegraph. “Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct or violation of statutes or regulations is defamatory.”
FIFA also challenged any suggestion that the employment arrangements described in the report represented evidence of wrongdoing.
“No employee at UEFA and FIFA has ever raised a complaint regarding Mr Infantino’s behaviour because there never was an incident where he was involved,” the governing body said.
It added that employment-related decisions, including departures and severance arrangements, were handled through established institutional procedures.
“All company actions related to employees, including any departure and severance packages, have always been approved by the appropriate directors in accordance with all applicable regulations,” FIFA said.
UEFA has confirmed that payments were made to the former employee but maintained that they were processed in accordance with the organisation’s rules and procedures.
The dispute comes amid an increasingly intense political and institutional contest over the direction of global football, with Infantino facing criticism from sections of European football over FIFA governance, financial structures and the organisation’s expanding commercial ambitions.
Infantino has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in international sport since succeeding Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in 2016. He was re-elected in 2019 and again in 2023, when he was returned unopposed for another four-year term.
His administration has pursued an aggressive expansion of FIFA’s commercial and development programmes, including increased investment in football associations outside Europe and the expansion of international competitions.
Those policies have increasingly placed FIFA’s leadership at the centre of a wider debate over who should control the financial architecture of world football and how revenues generated by the global game should be distributed.
The latest allegations therefore arrive against an unusually charged political backdrop. Infantino has faced sustained criticism from some European football officials and commentators, while FIFA maintains that its leadership has a mandate from all 211 member associations.
The governing body has also repeatedly stressed that FIFA is a global organisation rather than a European institution, with the overwhelming majority of its membership based outside Europe.
The allegations concerning the former UEFA employee remain disputed, with FIFA categorically rejecting the interpretation presented in the report and UEFA maintaining that the payments in question were made in accordance with its internal procedures.
There is currently no indication in FIFA’s statement that any formal disciplinary finding has been made against Infantino in relation to the allegations.
Infantino, who is married and has four children, has remained one of the most influential figures in international sport since taking charge of FIFA.
The controversy consequently represents not only another challenge to his personal reputation but also another test of the increasingly polarised politics surrounding FIFA’s leadership, particularly as the organisation prepares for another period of major commercial and institutional expansion.
