Panama papers: New Fifa boss implicated in corruption scandal

The new head of world football has been implicated in the sport's corruption scandal due to records revealed by the Panama Papers leak, according to the Independent. 

Files published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on Sunday allegedly connect Fifa's new president, Gianni Infantino, to one of the figures indicted by the US government last year over bribery during the World Cup bidding process. 

Mr Infantino, who was previously the director of legal services for football's European governing body Uefa, co-signed a series of contracts between 2003 and 2006 between Uefa and Hugo Jinkis - despite previously insisting he had had no dealings with any of the men connected with the bribery scandal. 

The files show that Uefa sold the South American broadcasting rights to the Champions League, the Uefa Cup and the Super Cup to an Argentinian company called Cross Trading.

Cross Trading immediately sold the rights onto broadcaster Teleamazonas. The company is a subsidary of a company called Full Play, which is owned by Hugo Jinkis. 

US prosecutors have accused Mr Jinkis of handing over millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to football executives for media and marketing rights.

Mr Infantino said he was "dismayed" that his "integrity is being doubted".

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

The "Panama Papers" are a cache of 11.5m documents leaked from the records of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca which show at least 12 current and former world leaders, 128 politicians, public officials, billionaires and celebrities involved in 214,000 offshore companies.

Last year, the FBI arrested 16 Fifa officials over allegations that they allowed Russia and Qatar to "buy" the opportunity to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. 

The resulting scandal led to the downfall of former Fifa President, Sepp Blatter, who was replaced by Mr Infantino earlier this year.

Source: MENA