Uefa Confirms Settlement for Departing Employee Linked to Infantino

Uefa has confirmed it paid a departing employee – a woman alleged to have been in a relationship with Gianni Infantino during his time as the organisation’s general secretary – a six-figure settlement and the costs of an MBA course.

The payment, first revealed by the Daily Telegraph, dates back to Infantino’s 16-year spell at Uefa, where he rose to general secretary in 2009 before winning the Fifa presidency in February 2016.

In a carefully worded statement, Uefa did not address the allegation of a relationship, but it did confirm the financial package.

“We are aware of the allegations and can confirm a departure payment was made to the individual in question, coupled with the payment of fees for a MBA course at a local business school,” a Uefa spokesperson said. “The payment was in line with the regulations that existed for departing staff at the time.

“Such regulations have been tightened since 2016 and the current staff regulations – which apply to all UEFA employees at whatever level – reflect those found in a modern, high-profile organisation.”

Infantino, through a spokesman quoted by the Telegraph, “strongly denies these categorically untrue allegations”.

The timing is combustible. The story breaks just as Infantino is already under sustained fire over his push to bring private investors into a new company that would control Fifa competitions, including both the men’s and women’s World Cups.

That plan has triggered open revolt in Europe. Uefa and two other continental confederations rejected the proposal, and Uefa has gone as far as threatening that its 55 member associations could boycott Fifa competitions unless the project is abandoned.

Infantino has spent the past week trying to steady the ship. In Morocco on Wednesday, he received backing from Fifa’s management board and issued an apology over the handling of the investment proposal. It was a nod to the anger his strategy had unleashed, but not enough to placate Europe.

Uefa’s response to that show of support was blunt. On Thursday it said the announcement from Morocco “changes nothing”, and its boycott threat remains on the table.

So the Fifa president now finds himself squeezed on two fronts: under political pressure over his World Cup investment plan, and facing renewed scrutiny over his Uefa past, with the governing body confirming a departure payment while he categorically denies the allegations that surround it.

The battle for control of football’s future is already fierce. The question now is how much collateral damage its most powerful figure can absorb.