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FIFA president Gianni Infantino will be referred to Olympic ethics investigators for a possible breach of political neutrality, a human rights group reported on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump helped block a suspension for a World Cup player.
Trump took credit on Monday for the FIFA decision, unprecedented in modern World Cup history, to allow U.S. striker Folarin Balogun to play against Belgium on Monday despite having received a red card in the team's previous match. Inspired by the commotion, Belgium won 4-1 in Seattle.
The IOC cites neutrality among the “fundamental principles of Olympism” for sports bodies like FIFA, and has had jurisdiction over Infantino since he joined its exclusive group of more than 100 invited members in 2020.
The London-based sports and human rights NGO FairSquare noted in a statement on Wednesday that it "will file a complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the repeated violation by FIFA president Gianni Infantino of political neutrality rules."
The pledge to file a formal complaint with the IOC Ethics Commission came a day after the Olympic body's president, Kirsty Coventry, told reporters that none had been received yet.
“Obviously, if they do, it would be investigated,” Coventry stated Tuesday in an online press conference when asked about the Balogun controversy, fueled by the Trump administration's dealings with FIFA and Infantino.
“Yes, we have obviously been watching how everything has unfolded,” the IOC president had previously expressed when asked about interference in on-field matters by the co-host country of the World Cup, which will also host the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
FIFA was asked to comment on the complaint to the IOC regarding its president.
Vínculos Infantino-Trump
Infantino has forged close ties with Trump since 2018, when the United States, Canada, and Mexico won a vote to host this World Cup.
The FIFA leader has been a regular visitor to the White House since attending Trump's second inauguration in January 2025 and said in November that “we should all support” the president’s work because it was “pretty good.”
Infantino famously created the FIFA Peace Prize, presented to Trump at the World Cup tournament draw in Washington D.C. last December. Senior soccer officials privately said the creation of the peace prize was an executive decision by Infantino.
Caso ético en la FIFA
FairSquare also formally filed a complaint with the FIFA ethics committee in December regarding Infantino and political neutrality. That action has the backing of the Norwegian Football Federation and about 50 members of the European Parliament.
FIFA has offered no updates in the seven months since that case.
[Publicidad]