FIFA President Gianni Infantino claimed that "he could make a criminal complaint over an unauthorized recording of a meeting that revealed comments damaging his reputation," according to Graham Dunbar of the AP. Infantino told Sunday's edition of Swiss daily Le Matin he had "a good idea" how details of a FIFA Council meeting in Mexico City last month had leaked. Infantino said, "I reserve the right to make a complaint about theft of sensitive data." Leaks to German-language newspapers in recent days showed Infantino describe a $2M salary offer as "insulting" and detailed Council talks about getting FIFA audit and Compensation Panels Chair Domenico Scala to leave. Infantino, who insists he is negotiating a salary of less than $2M, said, "My enemies want to make me look greedy, it's stupid" (AP, 6/5).
'PIECE OF THEATER': REUTERS' Brian Homewood wrote Infantino accused the man who masterminded reforms of football's global body of "playground" behavior. The Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung last month said 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 $2M Swiss francs a year. Infantino: "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. My enemies want to make me look greedy. I have not stolen anything. And everything that I have earned in my life has been thanks to me work. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth." Infantino said that "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." He described some of Scala's comments in the media as a "piece of theater," adding, "This is childish behavior worthy of the playground. I do not want to pay more attention to it" (REUTERS, 6/5).
