Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, is facing renewed scrutiny after a Daily Telegraph investigation reported that Uefa paid a six-figure sum to a woman alleged to have had a relationship with him during his time as the organisation's general secretary.

The Telegraph published its exclusive on August 7, 2026, under the headline "Gianni Infantino's 'lover' was paid off by Uefa." The investigation reports that the woman received a leaving package worth a six-figure sum after the alleged affair (Daily Telegraph).

Infantino ran Uefa's day-to-day operations as general secretary from 2009 to 2016 before becoming president of Fifa, the global governing body of football (BBC Sport).

According to the Telegraph's investigation, the woman was promoted at Uefa during Infantino's tenure, receiving a 30% pay rise that took her annual salary to 160,000 Swiss francs (around £140,000). The newspaper reports that the six-figure departure package and the promotion will increase pressure on the Fifa president (Daily Telegraph; Gazzetta dello Sport).

Uefa has confirmed that a departure payment was made to the individual in question. In a statement, the organisation said the payment covered the fees for the woman to complete an MBA course at a local business school. Uefa said all payments were in line with its regulations at the time, but noted that those regulations have since been tightened (BBC Sport).

A spokesman for Infantino told the Daily Telegraph that he "strongly denies these categorically untrue allegations" (BBC Sport).

The story lands at a delicate moment for Infantino, who has led Fifa since 2016 and is overseeing plans for an expanded 48-team World Cup and a revamped Club World Cup. Allegations of financial impropriety at the organisation he ran before arriving at Fifa — however strongly denied — are the kind of thing that feeds into broader questions about transparency at the top of the sport's governing bodies.

Neither the Telegraph nor the BBC has named the woman involved. The BBC, which independently confirmed key elements of the Telegraph's reporting, notes that the payment was described by Uefa as a severance arrangement consistent with the policies then in place.

For now, the facts are these: a payment was made, Uefa has acknowledged it, Infantino has denied the relationship, and the regulations under which the money was disbursed no longer exist in their previous form.