New FIFA President named in Panama Papers

According to secret documents that shook the world last week, Gianni Infantino is linked to two businessmen accused of bribery.

The 11 million documents leaked in the 'Panama Papers' include references to Gianni Infantino, the new FIFA President. The incident took place in 2006 when he was UEFA's Chief Legal Officer.

Infantino was then one of the co-signers of the contract to sell the Champions League television rights for the 2006-2007 and 2008-2009 seasons to Cross Trading, the Ecuadorian distributor. The company bought the rights for $111,000 and then sold them for three times that amount ($311,000) to Teleamazonas.

The incident would not have been a big deal if the two owners of Cross Trading, Hugo and Mariano Jinkins, had not been arrested for bribery. According to the accusations of the US prosecutor,Hugo and Mariano Jinkins bribed South American football officials with millions of dollars, buying television rights at very low prices and then reselling them at high prices.

However, the 'Panama Papers' do not contain evidence that Infantino received bribes from Cross Trading.

Mr Infantino is disappointed that his "integrity is being questioned". Photo: AFP.

Responding to this information, a UEFA spokesman said that television rights were sold based on a "public, competitive bidding process", and that Cross Trading had done nothing wrong.

UEFA also issued a statement on April 5 saying: "Infantino has been an outstanding member of UEFA for many years. A person who always works with professionalism and integrity."

Infantino's most important task as FIFA President is to help the world football governing body regain its integrity, after the 2015 corruption scandal.

"I am very disappointed and cannot accept that my integrity has been questioned by the media, especially given that UEFA is the one who revealed these contracts. I confirm that I have never personally dealt with Cross Trading or this business owner," Infantino's statement said.

The 'Panama Papers' consist of 11 million documents provided by an anonymous source to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The information was obtained from Mossack Fonseca, the world's fourth largest law firm.The Süddeutsche Zeitung then shared the files with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which published them publicly earlier this week.

43 politicians and celebrities were accused of using shell companies to evade taxes and hide huge assets. In the field of football, the names of Lionel Messi and Michel Platini, former President of UEFA, appeared.

According to VNE