Various Swiss cities and cantons borrowed from FIFA

FIFA has come in for flak due to corruption charges and human rights issues around the recent World Cup in Qatar. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

The cities of Geneva and Lausanne and the canton of Neuchâtel are the latest public authorities reported to have taken out loans with the Zurich-based organisation, according to Swiss public radio, RTS.

In 2022 the amounts came to CHF40 million ($43.46 million) for Lausanne, CHF100 million for Neuchâtel, and CHF150 million for Geneva – a “marginal” part of these body’s overall borrowing, RTS said on Monday.

The report comes after Tamedia newspapers revealed earlier in January that the city of Bern had borrowed CHF1.8 billion from FIFA, world football’s governing body, over the past six years. The cities of Winterthur and Frauenfeld also made such deals, Swiss public radio, SRF, has since reported.

The loans are made via an online financial platform, Loanboox, which places borrowers (public authorities or businesses) directly in contact with lenders such as banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and also private entities. No intermediary is involved.

Ethical borrowing

While there are no indications that the loans are illegal, they have attracted media attention due to the various criminal proceedings – including in Switzerland – and scandals linked to FIFA in recent years.

The news regarding Bern prompted some local politicians to table a motion in the city parliament calling for the introduction of new ethical borrowing rules, which the city’s officials are assessing.

On Monday, however, Neuchâtel’s finance minister said the criticism was “quite badly grounded”.

“FIFA is not banned in Switzerland, it is not an organisation of criminals,” said Laurent Kurth. “And other lenders have also faced criticism in the past, notably certain banks […] Furthermore, when we raise funds by issuing bonds – which nobody criticises – in reality we don’t know who is lending us the money”.