Preise » s finance committee to grant loans guarante

GENEVA -- After an internal investigation, UEFA has found that former general secretary Gianni Infantino and current president Aleksander Ceferin did not break any rules when the governing body of European soccer sent a multimillion dollar loan to the Slovenian federation.The 4 million euro ($4.4 million) deal for a betting company investment in June 2015 -- which an internal UEFA report says was granted in real exception -- has been scrutinized because it was signed off by Infantino and Ceferin. They have since won unexpected elections as presidents of FIFA and UEFA, respectively.A Norwegian magazine reported that FIFA ethics prosecutors are investigating Infantinos part in the loan. It said UEFA flouted financial protocol to approve the money, and noted that FIFAs code of ethics prohibits individuals from investing in soccer gambling operators.The UEFA disciplinary committee asked its investigations unit to report on claims initially made by Scandinavian media last month.The inquiry document, seen by The Associated Press, concluded that UEFA and the Slovenian federation respected the relevant provisions and conditions of granting loans to members.The loan was granted entirely in accordance with standard UEFA procedures and that the use of the loan funds by the Slovenian (federation) raised no questions either, UEFA said Wednesday in a statement to the AP.The document noted that FIFAs ethical rules on betting and integrity of matches relate to persons, not institutions. The code, therefore, does neither apply to UEFA, nor to national associations, the document concludes.Despite UEFAs internal report, FIFA ethics prosecutors can independently seek evidence and demand witness statements. However, it is unclear if an early stage probe has begun.The investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee said it would never confirm an ongoing preliminary inquiry. But that can lead to a formal case being opened, which would typically be announced.The multimillion dollar loan from UEFA was detailed last month after FIFA built closer links to Slovenia.In July, FIFA appointed Slovenia state auditor Tomaz Vesel to chair its independent audit and compliance committee and a panel which sets salaries. Norwegian magazine Josimar reported that Vesel plays on an amateur soccer team with Ceferin, who it claimed was supported by Infantinos staff in what became a landslide win for the UEFA presidency in September.Interviewed by the AP last week, Ceferin described reports seeking to implicate him as mosquito bites helped by an old guard of soccer insiders opposing him.They had to try to invent some non-stories, Ceferin said at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, insisting the loan was as clean as possible. We asked for a loan, it was a strategic investment.The report says Infantino was not directly involved in Slovenias formal request in December 2014, which had one sole known and well-documented aim -- to buy a 17.3 percent share of the state lottery Sportna loterija. The owners include the Slovenian Olympic committee and national ski federation.UEFA said its loan policy is to co-finance strategic projects with a lasting impact and can never be granted to support bad management or wrong decisions.Slovenia got exceptional treatment at two stages of the process, the report acknowledged, though notes that UEFA previously granted 25 loans to member federations.One exception was in granting a force majeure loan in May 2015 that had to be approved by five senior UEFA officials, including then-president Michel Platini and Infantino. A detailed cash-flow plan also had to be given, and the Slovenian federation suggested the investment would earn extra revenue after eight years.UEFA said it also allows in very exceptional cases for its finance committee to grant loans guaranteed against a members future payments from UEFA-controlled broadcasting and sponsorship sales of World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches.UEFA wrote to Ceferin on April 28, 2015, that Platini must approve how Slovenia could repay the loan. It would be offset against 800,000 euro ($870,000) payments Slovenia was due to get each August from 2016 through 2020.Noting that other UEFA members had commercial ties to betting operators, the report said the Spanish soccer federation got 1 percent of national lottery profits which was worth 70 million euros ($76 million) since 1998.Furthermore, and as everybody knows, it is not at all uncommon for national football associations, or for football clubs, to have commercial relationships with companies in the lottery or gaming business, UEFA said in its statement Wednesday. Custom Broncos Jerseys . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Custom Broncos T-shirts . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. 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VIENNA -- World Cup skiing needs a qualification system like Formula Ones, with qualifying runs determining the starting order for the race, Olympic downhill champion Matthias Mayer said Friday.You could compete in training for who is the first to pick a start number, the Austrian skier said.Mayers proposal goes a step further than rules for downhill and super-G implemented this season. In the new system, the top 10 skiers can choose an odd start number between 1 and 19, and the skiers ranked between 11th and 20th pick an even number between 2 and 20.The International Ski Federation has changed the old format, where the top seven were randomly given a number between 16 and 22, because it hopes TV viewers will watch longer when the best skiers are more spread out.It will change something, definitely, said Mayer, who was speaking at a sponsor event. The best racer can pick the start number he wants. I think its a positive development. But we should discuss a qualifying format in training.FIS mens race dirrector Markus Waldner said skiings governing body considered several options before deciding on the new regulation.ddddddddddddhe idea is to spread out the top 10 from the start list, Waldner said. Most of our TV viewers were starting to watch a race after the TV break, after the first 15 starters, because the top seven racers all started between 16 and 22. We would like to motivate our TV viewers to watch from the very beginning of a race.A winner of three World Cup races, Mayer missed most of last season after breaking two vertebrae in a downhill crash in Val Gardena, Italy. He returned to training on snow in July, and is planning a comeback at the speed races in Lake Louise, Alberta, on Nov. 26-27.The Austrian skipped the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden last Sunday, though he skied on the course as a forerunner, a skier doing a test run just before the race starts. ' ' '