FIFA President accused of interfering with independent governance

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been accused of interfering with an independent committee decision with a view to ensuring the security of his own presidency.

MPs at the House of Commons in London were told that Infantino had attempted to dissuade the committee from deciding to block Russian World Cup official Vitaly Mutko from maintaining his seat on football's ruling council. The allegations were made by Miguel Maduro, FIFA's formerly sacked governance committee chairman, who gave over an hour of evidence to a Select Committee the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Mutko was ultimately barred from his seat because his position as Russian deputy prime minister was seen as a lack of political neutrality.

Maduro told the committee of MPs that Infantino "was not comfortable" and "expressed concern" about the potential impact the decision would have on the 2018 World Cup preparation, claiming that FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura ordered him to "find a solution or the presidency would be in question and the World Cup would be a disaster".

Maduro would go on to say that Infantino stopped speaking to him after the Mutko decision, despite formerly being a supporter of Maduro, and that Infantino elected to "politically survive" rather than protect the integrity of the independent bodies.