Sources close to the situation said that FIFA, seeking to repair its reputation, has "ditched the the luxury hotel where several of its senior officials were arrested," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. The Baur au Lac in Zurich, set within its own park and offering views over the Alps, "was for years a home away from home for FIFA’s now defunct executive committee." Members of a renamed FIFA Council, meeting under a new president, "have been told to stay at the nearby Park Hyatt Zurich during a quarterly gathering next week." FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura "decided on the new arrangements as part of a review of the organization's business." Staying at the Hyatt, which like the Baur au Lac is a five-star hotel, "will save the organization tens of thousands of dollars," according to the sources. Belgian FIFA board member Michel D'Hooghe said, "We must remember that the FIFA Council has more members now and there are other good hotels, too, in Zurich. If this is the new direction and FIFA can save a lot of money then I am all in favor of that" (BLOOMBERG, 10/5). In London, Owen Gibson wrote the move will save money but will "hardly leave FIFA's top officials slumming it and its significance is largely symbolic." A spokesperson for the hotel "declined to comment on the loss of an account that had brought it plenty of income but also made it famous around the globe for all the wrong reasons." He said, "Discretion is one of the hallmarks of the Baur au Lac. Therefore, it is our consistent policy not to make any statements in regards to our esteemed guests. We are sure you will respect our position" (GUARDIAN, 10/5). The BBC's Richard Conway reported the service and discretion of the Baur au Lac's staff was "famously highlighted when they held up white tablecloths to hide the identities of arrested executives during the first early morning raid" in May '15 (BBC, 10/5).
SLOVENIAN FA LOAN: ESPN.com's Vivek Chaudhary reported according to sources, FIFA President Gianni Infantino could find himself under investigation by the organization's Ethics Committee "for the second time during his eight-month tenure over his role in a loan" to the Slovenian FA (NZS) made during his previous position as UEFA general secretary. A source close to FIFA's independent Ethics Committee said that "it could meet by the end of next week to decide if formal proceedings should begin against Infantino." The source said, "The head of the Ethics Committee is looking at all the media reports about this matter and other information that has been provided, including financial reports of both UEFA and the NZS. A decision is expected by next Friday on a formal investigation." The allegations, first made in the Norwegian football magazine Josimar and Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, relate to a €4M loan "granted by UEFA to the NZS" in the summer of '15. It claimed that €3.6M of this was "used to buy shares in Slovenian betting company Sportna Loterija, a breach of FIFA's ethics code" (ESPN.com, 10/6).
CLEAN BID: The AFP reported Infantino vowed Thursday that the 2026 World Cup bidding process "will be free of the controversy that surrounded the selection of Russia as 2018 hosts and Qatar in 2022." Infantino was responding to a recent claim by U.S. President Barack Obama that "decisions on who hosts the Olympics and World Cups are corrupt." Infantino: "I can't speak about the past. But what I can promise, is that we need to look very seriously at the application process for 2026 (World Cup) to assure ourselves that the process is transparent and beyond reproach." He said that for '26 they would have to make sure "that the technical report means something concrete and that it is not only a political vote" (AFP, 10/6).
