Infantino hits back at claims Uefa paid off alleged former lover

Gianni Infantino has rejected allegations that UEFA made a six-figure departure payment to a woman with whom he was said to have had a relationship while working as the organisation's general secretary. The claims come from a Daily media investigation into the FIFA president's time at European football's governing body. A spokesman for Infantino told the paper that the FIFA president "strongly denies these categorically untrue allegations". FIFA later added that any suggestion of inappropriate conduct or a breach of regulations was defamatory, saying no employee had ever raised a complaint about Infantino's behaviour. UEFA confirmed that a payment had been made to the woman in question, explaining that it covered her tuition fees for an MBA at a local business school. The body said the payment was in line with the rules in force at the time, while adding that those rules have since been tightened to match the standards of a modern, high-profile organisation. Infantino joined UEFA in 2000 and served as its general secretary from 2009 to 2016, before becoming FIFA president later that year. The revelations increase the pressure on Infantino, who is already facing calls to resign over a plan to sell World Cup rights to private investors. That plan has since been abandoned, and Infantino has apologised for his "errors", but he has not stepped down. Senior executives backed him at a meeting in Morocco on Wednesday. European teams have continued to threaten a boycott of FIFA events, insisting that certain conditions have not been met. Infantino does have support, though: Conmebol, the Confederation of African Football, and the football associations of World Cup co-hosts Mexico and tournament runners-up Argentina have all lined up behind him.