Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that a meeting between Infantino and his compatriot Lauber at a Qatari-owned hotel in Bern on June 16 in 2017 was secretly recorded when a confidential meeting was wiretapped with the help of former agents from the United States' Central Intelligence Agency in what was termed "Project Matterhorn".

At the time, the Schweizerhof also housed Qatar's Embassy in Switzerland and Lauber was investigating corruption in football, including alleged irregularities in the 2010 vote to award the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar.

Qatar was also facing heavy scrutiny over its human rights record, including its treatment of migrant workers on World Cup-related projects, which had led to calls for it to be stripped of the tournament.

Lauber resigned as Swiss Attorney General in 2020 after he was found to have covered up a meeting with Infantino.

FIFA said Infantino had no knowledge of being the subject of an espionage attempt.

"The FIFA President has no knowledge of any secret surveillance actions, from whatever side," it commented.

"More importantly, there has never been any even remote attempt by anyone to influence him, let alone blackmail him."

Lauber's lawyer told Neue Zürcher Zeitung that he was not aware he had been spied on.

Qatar's Government has rebuffed the report and threatened legal action against the "groundless allegations" and "disinformation".

"The allegations are another attempt to spread false information about Qatar and damage its reputation," a statement from its International Media Office said.

"We reject the allegations and are exploring all legal avenues.

"It is evidently clear that the multiple smear campaigns against Qatar in Europe, revealed by media reports in France, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe earlier this month, relentlessly persist."

Qatar became the first Middle Eastern nation to host the World Cup last year, with the tournament moved to November and December because of concerns over heat and humidity.

International Olympic Committee member Infantino temporarily moved to Doha in the build-up to the World Cup and defended Qatar's hosting of the tournament, accusing Western critics of "hypocrisy" and describing it as "the best World Cup ever".

Infantino was interviewed for a second time by Swiss authorities in January in a criminal investigation relating to three alleged secret meeting with Lauber in 2016 and 2017.

Both Infantino and Lauber have denied any wrongdoing.

A separate investigation into the FIFA President's charter of a private jet between Suriname and Geneva in 2017 was dropped by prosecutors last week.

Infantino replaced his disgraced compatriot Sepp Blatter as FIFA President in 2016, and is set to be re-elected unopposed at the FIFA Congress in Rwanda's capital Kigali on Thursday (March 16).