Gianni Infantino accused the man who masterminded FIFA reforms of “playground” behavior and told Swiss newspapers that his salary, still to be confirmed, would be less
than 2 million CHF (approx. 2.05 million US$).
“My enemies want to make me look greedy,” the FIFA President told French-speaking Le Matin and German-speaking Sonntagszeitung. I have not stolen anything, and everything that I have earned in my life has been thanks to my work. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. My contract is being negotiated, and this is not the place to unveil the outlines. However, once signed, I will show you with pleasure all the details and you will see that it will be less than the 2 million that the media has mentioned.”
Domenico Scala, who as head of the audit and compliance had led the reforms of FIFA, quit his post last month, saying the committees were no longer independent of the Council and that reforms had been undermined.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that leaked details of FIFA Council meetings showed that Infantino had been angered when the compensation committee, which Scala also sat on, offered him a salary of 2 million Swiss francs a year. Infantino said he had only learned of Scala’s resignation after returning from a FIFA Congress in Mexico, even though the two were on the same flight.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.