The accusation that ‘Qatar listened to the meeting of FIFA President Infantino and prosecutor Michael Lauber’

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and former federal prosecutor Michael Lauber met in an informal meeting at the Schweizerhof hotel in Bern on June 16, 2017. The investigation opened after the disclosure of this meeting resulted in Lauber’s resignation from office.

Although it was said that no minutes were taken of the meeting between the two, FIFA president Infantino did not want to talk about the details of this meeting. The meeting was so extraordinary that the two special prosecutors are still investigating Lauber and Infantino. And as a result of these investigations, information was reached that shocked the public.

Meeting between Lauber and Infantino, in a building owned by the State of Qatar since 2009 (Hotel Schweizerhof) had passed. The Qatari Embassy was also located at the location where the secret meeting took place. According to the statement of NZZ, one of the well-established Swiss newspapers, the meeting between Infantino and Lauber was secretly recorded by intelligence agents on behalf of Qatar.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino

FORMER CIA AGENTS IN ACTION

At the time, the Gulf state was concerned that the 2022 World Cup would be taken away from it due to allegations of corruption and human rights violations. So he launched a year-long international spy operation with the help of former CIA agents. The FIFA bases were spied on and the Swiss federal prosecutor had a special interest in Qatar. Because it was Lauber’s responsibility to investigate the irregularities in the World Cup awarded to Qatar.

The boardroom where Lauber and Infantino met was bugged, NZZ reported. The newspaper announced that it had official and confidential documents proving the act of espionage. And sources with direct knowledge of the incident told the newspaper about the operation, fearing reprisals and guaranteeing anonymity.

CODE NAME: MATTERHORN PROJECT

Those who knew about the espionage operation carried out by the State of Qatar in Swiss territory said that this maneuver had the code name of “Project Matterhorn”. According to the sources, the main objective of the action was to obtain blackmail material. In fact, it is believed that the tape was used to blackmail Lauber. When informal conversations between Lauber and Infantino came to light, the judges suspended Lauber from the FIFA cases.

Michael Lauber.

The first two secret meetings before 2016 were made public. At that time, Lauber was questioned by the AB-BA supervisory authority. Investigators asked her if she had any more meetings with Infantino. Lauber said: “No. I have never met at federal prosecutor level.” However, Lauber was forced to resign when it was discovered that she had lied.

DISCUSSION HOTEL SELECTION

The meeting between Infantino and Lauber in a hotel run by Qatar drew the attention of the investigating agents. Although Lauber said that Infantino chose this hotel to avoid being recognized, investigators found this reasoning unconvincing.

QATAR REJECTS INSPECTION CLAIMS

On the other hand, the Qatari administration denied the spying allegations through a London law firm. But documents owned by NZZ show that the intelligence operation involving Lauber began well before 2017. Agents working on Qatar’s behalf were reportedly trying to recruit Lauiber as an undercover human resource in late 2011.

Hotel Schweizerhof.

It turned out that an American spy company called Global Risk Advisors, which carried out this attempt, also managed the process of spying on the secret meeting at Schweizerhof. Global Risk Advisors is made up mostly of former employees of the US intelligence services. The company is headed by Kevin Chalker, a former CIA official, the foreign intelligence service of the United States.

US INTELLIGENCE WORKING IN QATAR

It turned out that the US spy company, on behalf of Qatar, has built an ever-expanding heavy spy on the FIFA environment for hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. The desert state secretly wanted to impress FIFA. Many international media outlets, including the Associated Press news agency, wrote that Global Risk Advisors was spying on Qatar’s behalf. Chalker’s work for Qatar in the fall of 2021 has come to light.

THE PROSECUTOR WOULD HAVE MADE THE MAN FROM QATAR

The company’s plan to hire prosecutor Lauber was part of an operation codenamed “Clockwork.” Internal documents from Global Risk Advisors show that the listening device at “Schweizerhof” is also part of the “Clockwork Project”. American spies seeking to influence future investigations into FIFA intended to hire the prosecutor in late 2011, making him Qatar’s right-hand man.