A human rights organisation has accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of breaching his organisation’s rules over his public support for Donald Trump and a peace prize awarded to the U.S. president.
FairSquare, a London-based human rights nonprofit, said Tuesday it filed requests for investigations into Infantino’s alleged breaches of FIFA’s statutory duty to be politically neutral.
FIFA said its ethics committee does not comment on potential ongoing cases, and could not confirm receiving the complaint.
– New FIFA peace prize awarded to U.S. President Donald Trump
FIFA’s ethics code calls for a ban from soccer of up to two years for violating the duty of neutrality, though it is unclear if the case will be taken up. The FIFA-appointed current ethics investigators and judges are seen by some observers to operate with less independence than their predecessors a decade ago when then-president Sepp Blatter was removed from office.
Infantino has expressed views this year backing Trump and his policies. In October, Infantino used his Instagram account to say Trump “definitely deserves” the Nobel Peace Prize.
The FIFA leader also has closely aligned soccer with the United States government ahead of the men’s 2026 World Cup being co-hosted with Canada and Mexico. The tournament should earn more than $10 billion for FIFA.
Political leaders of all three co-hosts joined Infantino on stage to begin the World Cup tournament draw last Friday in Washington, D.C., after Trump got the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.
After a video about Trump was played out at the draw prior to him receiving the prize, Infantino remarked: “This is what we want from a leader … you definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize for your action for what you have obtained in your way but you obtained it in an incredible way and you can always count, Mr. President, on my support.”
Infantino said in a November interview at the American Business Forum in Miami that “we should all support what [Trump] is doing [in the U.S.] because I think it’s looking pretty good.”
FairSquare’s letter also referenced an Instagram post from Infantino on Jan. 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration.
“Together we will make not only America great again, but also the entire world,” Infantino said at the conclusion of a video message.
“The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality,” FairSquare said in an eight-page complaint.
FIFA has not specified how Infantino created the peace prize last month though people familiar with the process in private conversations said they learned about it through media reports.
“If Mr. Infantino acted unilaterally and without any statutory authority this should be considered an egregious abuse of power,” FairSquare said.
FairSquare has previously challenged FIFA over the human rights record of Saudi Arabia, the 2034 World Cup host; the influence of the kingdom’s oil company Aramco which is a highest-tier World Cup sponsor; FIFA governance standards; and FIFA’s slow-moving investigation into possible statutes breaches relating to teams from Israeli settlements playing in the national soccer league.
Information from PA and The Associated Press was used in this report.
