Panama Papers: Swiss Police Raids UEFA Offices

The European Football Association (UEFA) announced that Swiss police raided its offices on Wednesday, April 6, and seized contracts related to the broadcasting rights of European football matches with a company involved in the FIFA financial scandal. Media reported on Tuesday that UEFA sold the broadcasting rights for European football matches from 2006 to 2009 to Pierre Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, owners of the company 'Cross Trading,' which was registered in a tax haven, and this company then sold it to Ecuador's 'Teleamazonas' at three times the price. FIFA confirmed that the contract was signed by Gianni Infantino, the current FIFA president, who was UEFA president in 2006. The news of this transfer was revealed with the release of the Panama Papers related to the Mossack Fonseca law firm in recent days. According to reports from the Associated Press and Reuters, UEFA stated on Wednesday that Swiss police, armed with a search warrant, requested contracts between UEFA and Cross Trading/Teleamazonas. The European football body added that 'all available documents have been provided and we will fully cooperate with the Swiss Federal Police.' UEFA also denied any wrongdoing on its part or by Gianni Infantino. Pierre Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, owners of 'Cross Trading,' are among several South American football officials accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of participating in widespread FIFA financial corruption. Infantino assumed the presidency of FIFA last month to lead the organization into a new era and rescue it from the financial scandals of its previous managers. UEFA, in a separate statement, rejected reports that it sold the broadcasting rights below market value, stating that the transfer of this contract to Teleamazonas occurred after a 'transparent, competitive process and through an auction.' In recent days, over 11 million confidential documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama, detailing financial operations to hide the money of many of the world's wealthy, have been released.