The Union of European Football Associations has confirmed it has been raided by the Swiss Federal Police in relation to the contract between it and Cross Trading/Teleamazonas that was revealed in the Panama Papers leaks.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was pulled into the Panama Papers affair on Tuesday when it was revealed that, in his former role as UEFA director of legal services, the 46-year-old co-signed a TV rights contract in 2006 with two businessmen who have since been caught up in football's corruption scandal.

Infantino said he was "dismayed" and "will not accept" that his integrity is being doubted after documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca included a television rights contract bearing his signature.

UEFA said in a statement: "UEFA can confirm that today we received a visit from the office of the Swiss Federal Police acting under a warrant and requesting sight of the contracts between UEFA and Cross Trading/Teleamazonas.

"Naturally, UEFA is providing the Federal Police with all relevant documents in our possession and will cooperate fully."

In a statement released by FIFA later in the day, Infantino expressed that his resolve to clean up the organization's reputation has only strengthened after Wednesday's episode, saying he welcomes "any investigation conducted into this matter."

"If my determination to restore football's reputation was already very strong, it is now even stronger," the statement read. "I welcome any investigation conducted into this matter.

"For the sake of transparency and clarity, it is essential that all elements of this dossier are disclosed, as UEFA has done. Based on these documents, it is clear that all contractual matters were conducted properly by UEFA. Should I be required to contribute to bringing further clarification on the matter, I will of course gladly do so. It is in my interest and in the interest of football that everything should come to light."

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said the swoop, which was one of two which took place on Wednesday, was part of criminal proceedings directed against persons unknown.

A statement from the Swiss OAG said: "On April 6, 2016, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), within the scope of ongoing criminal proceedings, conducted a search on a cooperative basis for the collection of evidence at the headquarters of the UEFA and at another enterprise.

"The search was motivated by the suspicion of criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code / SCC) and, respectively, that of misappropriation (Art. 138 of the SCC).

"The OAG's criminal proceedings are in connection with the acquisition of television rights and are at present directed against persons unknown, meaning that for the time being, no specific individual is being targeted by these proceedings."

The deal was with two figures who have since been accused of bribery as part of the United States investigation into corruption at FIFA. Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, his son, are currently under house arrest in Argentina.

Cross Trading, the Jinkis' Argentinian company that was registered in the South Pacific tax haven of Niue, bought the rights for $111,000 (now £78,780), according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which is analysing 11 million leaked files.

The rights were immediately sold the rights to Ecuadorian broadcaster Teleamazonas for $311,170 (£220,800).

UEFA had initially denied doing business with any of the 14 individuals indicted by the FBI, but admits now its response was incomplete.

Suspended UEFA president Michel Platini says all his accounts and assets are known by tax authorities after he was named in the leaked documents published by an international coalition of media outlets on Sunday. FIFA has launched an investigation into links between disgraced former vice president Eugenio Figueredo and a member of its own Ethics Committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, as a result of the leaks.

Jorge Messi, the father of Barcelona star Lionel Messi, has denied the family's involvement in tax evasion projects, while the reigning holder of the Ballon d'Or and captain of the Argentina national team has also received the public backing of his club and his country's football federation.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by ESPN staff

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