FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been accused of violating the organisation's rules on political neutrality following his close relationship with US President Donald Trump. The allegations come after Infantino presented Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the World Cup draw in Washington DC last Friday.
FairSquare, a group advocating for accountability in sport, has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA's ethics committee. The letter highlights comments made by Infantino on social media and in public appearances, including an Instagram post where he stated Trump “definitely deserves” the Nobel Peace Prize. At the draw, Infantino praised Trump as a leader, saying, “You definitely deserve the first FIFA peace prize for your action… you can always count, Mr President, on my support.”
FairSquare also cited an Instagram video from 20 January, the day of Trump's inauguration, in which Infantino said, “Together we will make not only America great again, but also the entire world.” The group argues that awarding a prize to a sitting political leader breaches FIFA's duty of neutrality and that Infantino lacked the authority to unilaterally create such a prize without approval from the FIFA Council.
Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare's programme director, stated: “This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino's support for President Donald Trump's political agenda. More broadly this is about how FIFA's absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation's rules and act in ways that are both dangerous and directly contrary to the interests of the world's most popular sport.”
