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Gianni Infantino is facing two formal ethics complaints and the prospect of another as pressure mounts over the FIFA president’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The first complaint was filed with the FIFA Ethics Committee in December—months before the men’s World Cup began—by FairSquare, a nonprofit research organization. It alleged Infantino repeatedly violated FIFA’s requirement that its officials remain politically neutral through public statements supporting Trump.
The complaint cited four instances, including Infantino saying Trump deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, calling on others to support the president’s policies, and declaring after Trump’s inauguration that, “together we will make not only America great again but also the entire world.”
That complaint also requested an investigation into Infantino’s role in creating the FIFA Peace Prize and awarding its inaugural edition to Trump in December.
Article 14 of FIFA’s code of ethics requires officials to “remain politically neutral” in their dealings with governments.
FairSquare said the FIFA Ethics Committee acknowledged receiving its complaint but did not provide any further information. The Norwegian Football Federation formally backed the filing in June, and 50 members of the European Parliament later wrote to FIFA demanding that it be addressed.
Those concerns took on new urgency during the World Cup, after FIFA abruptly suspended the U.S. men’s national team’s Folarin Balogun’s automatic one-match ban.
Balogun received a red card during the USMNT’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1, and he was initially ruled out of the team’s round-of-16 match against Belgium. FIFA reversed course before the game, clearing him to play. The USMNT went on to lose that match 1–4, ending its World Cup run.
Trump confirmed he called Infantino three times and asked him to review the case, but Infantino later denied interfering in the disciplinary process.
“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” Infantino said in a statement. “That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”
That incident prompted 72 members of the European Parliament to call on national soccer federations to demand an investigation. In a July 8 letter, they asked whether Infantino was involved in the decision to reverse the red card and whether “pressure from the US Administration was a factor.”
The lawmakers said FIFA had not adequately responded to their previous request for an investigation into the Peace Prize and other potential breaches of political neutrality. They argued the Balogun case made it necessary for FIFA’s member associations to intervene.
FairSquare filed a second formal complaint against Infantino on July 13, this time with the International Olympic Committee.
Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020, meaning he is subject to both FIFA’s rules and the Olympic body’s separate political neutrality requirements. The Olympic Charter requires sports organizations to remain neutral and free from government pressure.
FairSquare’s 10-page complaint alleges five clear breaches of IOC rules through Infantino’s public support for Trump. It also asks the IOC to investigate two additional issues: whether Infantino succumbed to political pressure in the Balogun case and whether a FIFA fan site promoted by Infantino was connected to a Trump-linked data harvesting operation.
In a statement to Front Office Sports, a representative from the IOC said the Ethics Commission “thoroughly analyzed” the complaint but determined that it fell outside its jurisdiction.
“The IOC Code of Ethics’ scope of application vis-à-vis the International Federations and their officials is specifically limited to their relations with the IOC,” they said.
The Olympic Charter also allows the IOC to expel a member who betrays the membership oath, jeopardizes the organization’s interests, or acts in a manner deemed unworthy of the IOC.
Norway Considers Action
The Norwegian Football Federation could soon add another complaint.
“When you bend a rule like this, you’re on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk. It is a worry for the game when you compromise fundamental rules of the game,” NFF president Lise Klaveness told The Times of London regarding Balogun’s case.
“If you start to adapt in such a way towards state leaders and state politics, you will move your behaviour and the organisation’s behaviour, and also the red line of what states’ leaders should interfere with. And that happened,” she said.
Klaveness said that the federation would determine at its next board meeting whether to formally approach the FIFA Ethics Committee.
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.
These complaints have not publicly altered Infantino’s relationship with Trump. At an event at Trump Tower ahead of the World Cup final, Infantino credited the president with helping make the World Cup a success.
“You don’t need people to compliment you, Mr. President, but this World Cup would not have been such an incredible success without you,” Infantino said.
Trump has also said that he wants to nominate Infantino as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, according to the New York Post.
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