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NEW YORK - A complaint alleging FIFA president Gianni Infantino has breached rules on political neutrality in his dealings with United States President Donald Trump has been submitted to the International Olympic Committee, reported PA Media/dpa.
Human rights group FairSquare says Infantino, who became an IOC member in 2020, has repeatedly breached the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s code of ethics, most recently in his handling of the Folarin Balogun affair.
The US striker’s one-match ban was suspended by FIFA’s disciplinary committee, allowing him to play in their World Cup last-16 match against Belgium.
That followed a phone call from President Trump to Infantino, with the Swiss insisting FIFA’s committees are entirely independent.
The Times has reported that the disciplinary committee chair Mohammad Al Kamali made the key decision to suspend the ban alone, having never been the sole arbiter in any previous published disciplinary cases.
FIFA has offered no explanation of why the ban was suspended.
FairSquare’s complaint alleges five clear breaches of the IOC’s rules on political neutrality, along with "prima facie” evidence of two further serious breaches -- including the handling of the Balogun case.
In December FairSquare made a similar complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee.
The Norwegian football federation wrote to the FIFA ethics committee requesting it consider FairSquare’s complaint.
Fifty members of the European Parliament wrote to the same committee on June 29 urging it to address FairSquare’s complaint.
FIFA and the IOC have been contacted for comment. - BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa
