Football Leaks founder says Infantino should have no future in game
The man behind Football Leaks says FIFA president Gianni Infantino should have no place in the future of the game.
Rui Pinto, the creator of Football Leaks, made the claim in a statement reported on 30 September, as Manchester City wait on the next step in their own financial case BBC Sport.
City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules over a nine-year period. They have until 2 October to submit an appeal.
Pinto is the computer hacker whose released documents led to the Premier League investigation into City. That investigation was launched after information published by Football Leaks in 2018 via Der Spiegel, and after a separate investigation by UEFA.
Pinto alleged that in 2014, when Infantino was UEFA general secretary, he intervened to help City and Paris St-Germain avoid sanctions under Financial Fair Play, UEFA’s spending rules, and receive only fines. BBC Sport said it contacted FIFA after Pinto’s latest statement.
Pinto is a convicted computer hacker and a self-taught former history student. Documents and emails he obtained prompted a UEFA investigation that led to City being banned from European competition The Athletic.
The criticism of Infantino goes wider than Pinto. The Swiss Football Association has withdrawn its support for the FIFA president. UEFA has accused him of “criminal mismanagement” over the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme.
Infantino has also faced a backlash over money and power. He says he has now scrapped a controversial plan to sell off stakes in FIFA’s competitions BBC Sport. UEFA had threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, over the proposal.
One of Infantino’s senior advisers, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned over the deal. He called it “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future”. Norway has called on Infantino to resign after the aborted attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
For fans, this means two big football stories are now joined together. One is about what happens next for City. The other is about who runs the game, and who gets to decide its future.
