Salaries Set for FIFA President, Secretary General

(ATR) Gianni Infantino has accepted a salary of $1.53 million a year, with FIFA No.2 Fatma Samoura set to receive $1.3 million.

Under the contract, Infantino also gets a car and lodgings paid during his term of office and "contribution for expenses in accordance with FIFA’s expenses regulations ($2,000 per month)".

Samoura has the same benefits but lodgings are not included.

There is no bonus for either in 2016 but they will be eligible for bonuses in 2017, the FIFA panel which set terms of the agreements said.

Infantino’s salary agreement comes a few months after he had labeled a $2m salary offer from FIFA audit panel chairman Domenico Scala as "insulting". Scala quit in the fallout from the row.

By way of comparison, the disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was paid a total of $3.7m in 2015. But an internal investigation by FIFA attorneys revealed evidence in June that Blatter, former secretary general Jerome Valcke and ex-finance director Markus Kattner had enriched themselves through annual salary increases, World Cup bonuses and other incentives totaling more than $80 million in the years before FIFA’s financial watchdog was formed.

"The FIFA president’s annual compensation represents less than 25 percent of his predecessor’s compensation (average 2010-2015 including bonus)," said the FIFA statement.

Blatter and Valcke were banned from football earlier this year. The former FIFA chief took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport; his case was heard on Aug. 25.

The compensation sub-committee decided bonuses would not be awarded for 2016 as its members, Infantino and Samoura "believe that FIFA’s current compensation policy is inadequate and open to malfunction and misuse".

"Bonus payments from 2017 onwards will be awarded in accordance with objective criteria related to FIFA’s mission and operations as well as the outcome of the organizational reforms that are currently being implemented," the sub-committee said.

The FIFA sub-committee added that all elements of the top officials contracts were in line with Swiss law and FIFA rules and regulations. All amounts paid this year will be presented in FIFA’s 2016 financial and governance report.

Commenting on his salary package, Infantino said: "Given the earlier misunderstandings and misrepresentations concerning this process and my compensation, I am pleased that this matter is now resolved and that I have a signed, valid employment contract.

"I am determined that abuses of the system will not happen under my presidency."

Tomaz Vesel, chairman of the FIFA compensation panel, described the salaries for FIFA’s leaders as "absolutely appropriate considering the challenging duties of the president and the secretary general".

A new FIFA compensation policy is being drafted.

"Historic shortcomings demonstrate that the present policy is inadequate," FIFA said in its release. "We will be reviewing the policy with an eye towards developing a new draft that is in keeping with the organization’s commitment to good governance and transparency, one that will seek to prevent excessive payments as unfortunately happened in the past. As part of this review, we are carefully examining all payments made to previous FIFA management."

Written by Mark Bisson

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