FIFA dismissed a report that its ethics committee started an investigation into President Gianni Infantino "before he choreographed the sudden removal of the committee's bosses last month," according to the PA. The chairs of the committee's "adjudicatory'' and "investigatory'' chambers -- Swiss prosecutor Cornel Borbély and German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, respectively -- were "replaced without warning at FIFA's annual congress in Bahrain." Infantino and FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura are "understood to have forced through wholesale changes to those bodies" during a meeting of the FIFA Council. On Monday, it was reported Infantino and Samoura were under investigation for "allegedly interfering in the recent Confederation of African Football presidential election." But in a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokesperson for FIFA defended the officials "in light of another recent round of speculation based on anonymous sources." The FIFA spokesperson said that Borbély's replacement, former Colombian prosecutor María Claudia Rojas, "confirmed that all files have been handed over to her and that there are no open preliminary or investigation proceedings involving the FIFA president" (PA, 6/20).
'DISCRIMINATORY CHANTS': The BBC reported the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) asked a "small group" of its fans to stop a chant that FIFA said is "homophobic." The move came after Mexico drew its opening Confederations Cup game 2-2 with Portugal in Russia. FIFA has since warned the FMF about "insulting and discriminatory chants" and said that it "could take further action if it happens again." Mexico has "already been fined eight times during World Cup qualifying because of homophobic chanting" (BBC, 6/21).