Swiss Attorney General, responsible for Lava Jato, resigns.

ZURICH (Reuters) Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber resigned on Friday after a court concluded he covered up a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and lied to supervisors while his office was investigating corruption at the world football governing body.

Lauber, who had been Switzerland's chief state attorney since 2012, denied lying but resigned to protect the institution's reputation.

"If they (the court) don't believe in me as attorney general, then the Attorney General's Office will be harmed," he said in a statement.

Lauber, 54, had remained in office despite damning reports from a government watchdog and calls for his resignation from activists due to slow progress in corruption cases ranging from Petrobras to Malaysia's state fund, 1MDB.

Re-elected by a narrow margin last year, he was also facing a parliamentary impeachment process, while a special prosecutor is reviewing criminal complaints against him.

“During the extended period leading up to Lauber’s departure, he managed to systematically weaken the institution of the public prosecutor’s office,” said Mark Pieth, a law professor who is Switzerland’s best-known anti-corruption figure.

"Although FIFA is very interesting, the really serious things for Switzerland as a financial center are cases like 1MDB and Petrobras... It's embarrassing that it took so long for him to come out."

The final straw for Lauber came on Friday, when the Federal Administrative Court said he had committed several violations, lied to investigators, and made "implausible" statements about the meeting with Infantino, who denies any wrongdoing.