Fifa’s ethics committee has been asked to investigate president Gianni Infantino, claiming he broke the governing body’s rules on political neutrality in relation to United States president Donald Trump.
Infantino awarded Trump with the inaugural Fifa peace prize at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington DC last week, and has also done social media posts and interviews in support of the 79-year-old.
Human rights campaign group FairSquare has written a letter of complaint, which BBC Sport has seen, alleging Infantino has “committed four clear breaches” of Fifa’s neutrality rules.
“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,” the letter stated.
“The Fifa president does not have the authority to unilaterally dictate the organisation’s mission, strategic direction, policies and values.”
BBC Sport has contacted football’s world governing body for comment.
Infantino and Trump stood side by side during the glittering ceremony at the Kennedy Center for next year’s tournament, which takes place in the US, Canada and Mexico from 11 June-19 July.
As well as a large golden trophy, Trump received a medal and certificate from Infantino, who said “this is what we want from a leader” and “you can always count, Mr President, on my support” during a speech that followed a video before the presentation.
In October, the 55-year-old posted on Instagram saying Trump “definitely deserves” the Nobel Peace Prize.
During an interview in November at the American Business Forum in Miami, Infantino also added: “We should all support what [Trump] is doing [in the US] because I think it’s looking pretty good.”
FairSquare also alleged a video post by Infantino on Instagram in January - following his invite to Trump’s inauguration - “indicates support for President Trump’s political agenda”.
Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare’s programme director, added: “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.”
Source: BBC
- Agencies
