FIFA President Infantino warns corrupt football leaders

Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-19 15:42:06|Editor: ZD

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KAMAPLA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino has warned football association leaders not to use money meant for the sport, for their own gain.

In an interview with Infantino carried out in Mauritania on Sunday and sent to Xinhua, the FIFA President made it clear that if there are any football federation leaders who want to enrich themselves with football money, they will be caught and sanctioned. "No one should think of using football money for his own gains," added Infantino.

The FIFA President was in Nouakchott, Mauritania to attend the seventh FIFA Executive Football Summit.

Infantino said that with the increased funds FIFA is giving to it's member associations, there is also increased evaluation and monitoring. "We are asking each football federation to sign a contract with FIFA that focuses on accountability. We are monitoring and auditing centrally to make sure funds are used appropriately," he added.

Infantino also mentioned the merits of having FIFA summits take place all over the world. Infantino says the summits are organized so that football leaders can come and discuss issues instead of coming to FIFA congresses to simply endorse things they do not understand. "I wanted to change the aspect of football associations just endorsing views during FIFA assemblies. Instead [I want them to] come and sit down and discuss football freely together with the FIFA President," he added.

The summit in Mauritania that ended on Sunday discussed a range of issues pertaining to football, with the focus being on the FIFA Forward program as well as youth and women's competitions.

The series of summits was launched in Paris in November 2016 by Infantino, who made it clear that the beautiful game can only develop successfully if FIFA cooperates closely and communicates regularly with its 211 member associations.

Since then, 12 strategic summits have been held around the globe in the 2016-2017 series, with approximately 20 member associations discussing predefined topics and inspiring each other at each event.?