Presidential rivals Champagne,Infantino clash over FIFA finances

ZURICH: FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has criticised the plans of rival Gianni Infantino as financially “dangerous” for global football’s beleaguered ruling body.

Infantino’s campaign organisers said in response his proposals were feasible and could be achieved by savings in FIFA and possibly an increase in revenue.

In a letter to FIFA’s 209 member national associations (FAs), who each hold one vote in the election, Champagne suggested on Saturday that Infantino’s plans could add an extra $900 million to FIFA’s expenditure over the next four years.

FIFA is engulfed by a graft scandal that has led to the indictment of several dozen leading football officials in the United States, and is under enormous pressure to reform.

Frenchman Champagne and the Swiss Infantino are among five candidates standing to replace outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter, himself banned for eight years for ethics violations, in Friday’s election.

In the published on Saturday letter, Champagne said that Infantino had made “tempting proposals on paper, which in reality are very dangerous”.

He said FIFA’s budget for the 2015-18 cycle, which was approved by the FIFA Congress in 2014, predicted an estimated income of 5 billion dollars over the four years.

He said that, although FIFA had initially projected a $100 million profit for the period, that could turn into a deficit of $600 million.

“FIFA is currently going through a difficult period with a deficit of about $100 million in 2015,” he said.

Its problems included “many contracts with economic partners that remain unsigned to date, a worst-case projected reduction in income of $600 million until 2018, and the possibility of a fine at the end of the ongoing investigations,” Champagne said.

“It seems therefore ludicrous to promise nearly a billion dollars with political and electoral objectives, after having criticised FIFA and President Blatter for years on the alleged grounds that he received votes in exchange for development programs. “The situation requires that we employ very careful management.”