FIFA’s Code of Ethics regulates involvement with betting companies. As UEFA's Secretary General, did Gianni Infantino violate these regulations when he granted a 4 million euro loan to the Slovenian FA – money they spent on shares in the lottery company Sportna Loterija?
By Håvard Melnæs, Andreas Selliaas and Pål Ødegård
FIFA's Code of Ethics, Article 25:
Integrity of matches and competitions
Persons bound by this Code shall be forbidden from taking part in, either directly or indirectly, or otherwise being associated with, betting, gambling, lotteries and similar events or transactions connected with football matches. They are forbidden from having stakes, either actively or passively, incompanies, concerns, organisations, etc. that promote, broker, arrange or conduct such events or transactions."
In cooperation with the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, Josimar Tuesday described how UEFA during the summer of 2015 granted The Football Association of Slovenia a loan of 4 million euro. A substantial portion of these funds (3.6 million euro) was spent on buying 17.3 % of the total shares in the lottery company Sportna Loterija. Asked whether UEFA would grant a member association a loan intended for the acquisition of such shares, the UEFA Board Member and one of the three members of UEFA's Financial Committee, Allan Hansen of Denmark, gave this answer:
"No, I could not imag...