FIFA president Infantino denies link to corruption in Panama Papers

Newly elected FIFA president Gianni Infantino co-signed television contracts with two of the governing body's indicted officials while serving as UEFA's director of legal services in 2006, according to leaked documents seen by the Guardian's Owen Gibson and the BBC's Richard Conway.

Infantino professed his innocence in a statement shortly after the reports were published:

I am dismayed and will not accept that my integrity is being doubted by certain members of the media, especially given that UEFA has already disclosed in detail all facts regarding these contracts.

From the moment I was made aware of the latest media enquiries on the matter, I immediately contacted UEFA to seek clarity. I did this because I am no longer with UEFA, and it is they who exclusively possess all contractual information relating to this query. In the meantime, UEFA has announced that it has been conducting a review of its numerous commercial contracts and has answered extensively all media questions related to these specific contracts.

As I previously stated, I never personally dealt with Cross Trading nor their owners as the tender process was conducted by Team Marketing on behalf of UEFA.

UEFA and FIFA initially claimed that Infantino hadn't done business with any of the 14 FIFA officials first incriminated in the FBI's sweeping investigation into corruption in world football. However, the TV deal with Hugo and Mariano Jinkis - both of whom are currently fighting extradition from Argentina to the United States - suggests otherwise.

Infantino co-signed the contracts with Cross Trading, a subsidiary of a company called Full Play that Hugo Jinkis owns. It gave Cross Trading the right to show Champions League, UEFA Cup, and Super Cup matches from 2003-06 and then from 2006-09, according to Gibson.

Cross Trading agreed to pay $111,000 for the licence to broadcast Champions League games in Ecuador for the 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons, according to Conway. Ecuadorian broadcaster Teleamazonas then paid almost three times that amount for those rights. The reason for the substantial increase in cost isn't clear.

Hugo is accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks worth millions of dollars in exchange for TV and marketing rights. His son Mariano helped operate Cross Trading.

The offshore company, which is registered in the Pacific island of Niue, has also been linked to FIFA ethics committee member Juan Pedro Damiani, who's currently the subject of an internal investigation.

UEFA has said that the bidding process was "open" and "competitive," and that it had no knowledge of any deal between Cross Trading and Teleamazonas.

"The TV contract in question was signed by Gianni Infantino since he was one of several UEFA directors empowered to sign contracts at the time," said European football's governing body. "It's standard practice."

UEFA also confirmed that it signed a Euro 2016 hospitality agreement with Traffic Sports Europe, one of the companies named in the FBI's indictments, raising even more questions about possible connections to the corruption scandal.

The FBI, however, hasn't asked Infantino for information "in relation to this contract or any other contract," UEFA added. "Of course, if UEFA is asked to cooperate or provide information in connection with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, then it will do so."

The contract information comes from the Panama Papers, a leak of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which allegedly held shell companies for global leaders, executives, and sportspeople.

Infantino replaced the suspended Sepp Blatter as FIFA's president in February. He vowed to restore the sport's credibility, and has since embarked on a campaign of reform and transparency.

Related - New president Infantino: 'You will be proud of what FIFA does for football'