As part of the 11 million documents during the ongoing Panama Papers leak, one shows Infantino signed a TV rights contract in 2006 when he was Uefa director.
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In his then-post as head of UEFA’s legal department, in 2006 and 2007 Infantino signed TV rights contracts for Champions League and other football tournaments with a letterbox company headed by two men who are now defendants in the FIFA scandal, reported the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The two have now been placed under house arrest in Argentina and face possible extradition to the USA on corruption charges.
“The rights were awarded to Teleamazonas/Cross Trading because they made the highest offer on the market”, UEFA said in a separate statement.
The emergence of the contracts from 2003 and 2006, which were co-signed by Infantino, link Uefa for the first time to one of the companies involved in the huge unfolding scandal that has brought down former Federation Internationale de Football Association president Sepp Blatter.
“In the meantime, UEFA has announced that it has been conducting a review of its numerous commercial contracts and has answered extensively all media questions related to these specific contracts”. Cross Trading signed a deal with Uefa’s broadcasting and marketing partner, called Team.
He added: “I would like to state for the record that neither Uefa nor I have ever been contacted by any authorities in relation to these particular contracts”.
“Moreover, as media themselves report, there is no indication whatsoever for any wrongdoings from neither UEFA nor myself in this matter”.
Federation Internationale de Football Association president Gianni Infantino says he is “dismayed” by sections of the media questioning his integrity following the “Panama Papers” leak. Cross Trading immediately sold on to broadcaster Teleamazonas for about three or four times the amount paid for them.
Cross Trading was also linked to current FIFA Ethics Committee member Juan Pedro Damiani.
UEFA has denied any wrongdoing.
However, UEFA did acknowledge it gave inaccurate information past year when stating it had no commercial dealings with people and companies indicted in the United States federal case.
Both he and UEFA issued statements on Tuesday evening, the Swiss unhappy with the media’s portrayal of the situation and insisting the European governing body had already “disclosed in detail all facts regarding these contracts ” .
Jinkis’s involvement in the deals with Uefa from a decade ago are set out in the Panama Papers.
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BBC Panorama and the Guardian newspaper are among 107 media organisations in 78 countries that have been analysing the documents.
