A leaked recording of a FIFA Council meeting has revealed FIFA President Gianni Infantino "flew into a rage with a senior figure within the governing body’s administration when he was asked to pay a laundry bill for his underwear," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. The tape, which reveals the "depths of the bitter civil war that has been fought" within FIFA since Infantino was elected in February, also shows that the 46-year-old was reported to FIFA’s ethics committee on the basis, which he denied, that "his wife was hunting for a house in Zurich" costing 25M Swiss francs ($26M). The "clash over the laundry bill" is understood to have taken place with CFO Markus Kattner, who was fired three weeks ago after it was found that he, Blatter and former Secretary General Jérôme Valcke had enriched themselves with bonuses totaling £56M. The complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee over the house-hunting was made by Independent Audit & Compliance Committee Head Domenico Scala, "who had been at odds with Infantino ever since his election and who resigned last month." The recording of the council meeting "took place in Mexico." In the recording, Infantino is heard telling members: "Other things have been reported to the ethics committee which are childish things. I had a bit of a discussion with an employee of FIFA who came to me and said there are some expenses you have to pay, it’s really stupid -- expenses for laundry, shirt and socks and underwear in a hotel on one of the trips I made. When I saw this I got angry, I didn’t reply to this employee in an Oxfordian style and I apologized later on but I told him I will pay" (LONDON TIMES, 6/14).
