MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – Hundreds of prosecutions of suspected wrongdoing by soccer officials will be affected by President Gianni Infantino firing FIFA’s top judge and prosecutor.
The ousted investigator, Cornel Borbely, said Wednesday that the workload – heavier than even most FIFA critics imagined – of the ethics committee will be impeded by the firing that Infantino sprung on his ruling council a day earlier.
On Wednesday, Infantino declined to discuss the reasons for not handing new terms to Swiss prosecutor Borbely and German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.
The FIFA leader also insisted its image had not been damaged by the fallout – despite widespread comparisons of him with President Donald Trump, who also fired a top investigator on Tuesday.
“We are positive,” said Infantino, whose reputation for acquiring and wielding executive power matches that of predecessor Sepp Blatter.