FIFA President Gianni Infantino will be referred to Olympic ethics investigators over a possible breach of political neutrality, a human rights group said on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump helped block the ban on a World Cup player.
Trump on Monday took credit for FIFA’s decision – unprecedented in modern World Cup history – to allow US forward Folarin Balogun to play against Belgium on Monday, despite receiving a red card in the team’s previous match. A Belgian team that was clearly on fire won 4-1 in Seattle.
The IOC calls neutrality one of the «fundamental principles of Olympism» for sports organizations like FIFA, and has had jurisdiction over Infantino since he joined the exclusive group of more than 100 invited members in 2020.
“FairSquare will file a complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the repeated violation of the rules of political neutrality by FIFA President Gianni Infantino,” the London-based sports and human rights NGO said in a statement on Wednesday.
The pledge to make a formal complaint to the IOC’s Ethics Commission came a day after Kirsty Coventry, president of the Olympic body, told reporters that no complaint had yet been received.
“If they do, obviously they would look at it,” Coventry said at an online press conference on Tuesday when asked about the Balogun controversy sparked by the Trump administration’s lobbying of FIFA and Infantino.
“Yes, we clearly saw everything happening,” the IOC president had said earlier when asked about interference in playing field issues by the World Cup co-host country, which will also host the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
FIFA was asked for comment on the complaint to the IOC about its president.
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Infantino has built close ties with Trump since 2018, when the US, Canada and Mexico won a vote to host the World Cup this year.
The FIFA leader has been a regular visitor to the White House since attending Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025, saying in November «we should all support the president’s job» as it was «pretty good».
Infantino famously created the FIFA Peace Prize presented to Trump during the World Cup tournament draw in Washington DC last December. Senior football officials said the creation of the peace prize was an executive decision by Infantino.
FairSquare also formally filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee in December over Infantino and political neutrality. This is supported by the Norwegian Football Federation and about fifty Members of the European Parliament.
FIFA has not provided an update on this case in the seven months since.
Published on July 8, 2026
