UEFA Confirms Departure Payment to Ex-Employee Amid Infantino Scrutiny

UEFA has confirmed it paid a six-figure “departure payment” to a former female employee who is alleged to have been in a relationship with Gianni Infantino during his time as the organisation’s general secretary.

The payment, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, was made when the woman left UEFA and was accompanied by funding for an MBA course at a local business school. The governing body insists the package complied with its rules at the time.

“We are aware of the allegations and can confirm a departure payment was made to the individual in question, coupled with the payment of fees for a MBA course at a local business school. The payment was in line with the regulations that existed for departing staff at the time.”

UEFA added that its internal rules have since been tightened: “Such regulations have been tightened since 2016 and the current staff regulations – which apply to all UEFA employees at whatever level – reflect those found in a modern, high-profile organisation.”

A spokesman for Infantino, now president of FIFA, told the Telegraph that he “strongly denies these categorically untrue allegations”. The Press Association has contacted FIFA for further comment.

The timing could hardly be more uncomfortable for Infantino. He has been under sustained pressure for more than a week over his controversial plan to bring private investors into a new company that would run FIFA’s competitions, including both the men’s and women’s World Cups.

That proposal has detonated a power struggle at the top of the global game. UEFA, backed by two other continental confederations, rejected the plan outright. The European body has even gone as far as threatening a boycott of FIFA competitions by its 55 member associations unless the project is abandoned.

On Wednesday in Morocco, Infantino secured the backing of FIFA’s management board and issued an apology over how the process had been handled. It did not cool tempers in Europe. UEFA responded on Thursday by insisting that the statement “changes nothing”, and its boycott threat remains on the table.

Infantino spent 16 years at UEFA and served as general secretary from 2009 until his election as FIFA president in February 2016. Now the organisation that once propelled his rise is publicly distancing itself from his flagship reform and confirming payments made during his watch.

The governance battle over who controls football’s biggest tournaments was already fierce. With fresh questions now circling around Infantino’s past at UEFA, the stakes for his presidency – and for FIFA’s relationship with Europe – have only climbed higher.