More than 100,000 people have backed a formal complaint calling on FIFA to investigate its president, Gianni Infantino, over alleged breaches of the organisation’s code of ethics linked to his ties with U.S. President Donald Trump, human rights group FairSquare said on Tuesday.
Filed by FairSquare under its “Reboot FIFA” campaign, the submission to FIFA’s Ethics Committee accuses Infantino of multiple violations, including abuse of power, failure to uphold political neutrality and breaches of loyalty obligations in attempts to “ingratiate himself with the U.S. President.”
FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan said the updated complaint, following an initial filing in December 2025, was prompted by events during and after the World Cup that concluded in July.
ALSO READ: World Cup-winning Brazil coach Parreira discharged from hospital after three months
Central to the allegations are Trump’s intervention during the tournament to ask Infantino to review U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card, which was later suspended, and Infantino’s now-abandoned plan to sell a stake in FIFA events to private-equity investors with political connections.
“The allegations are a lot more serious. We now have this public and political concern and we felt it was time to again put pressure on the FIFA Ethics Committee and really lay down the gauntlet to them,” McGeehan told Reuters. “Are you capable of holding your senior officials to account? That’s what we’re trying to do with this follow-up.”
The letter outlines eight incidents, including claims that Infantino breached FIFA’s political-neutrality rules by publicly endorsing Trump’s political slogan and agenda, and that he abused his authority by unilaterally creating the FIFA Peace Prize—without FIFA Council approval—and awarding it to Trump.
It also alleges he secretly developed the FIFA Forward Enterprise with politically connected investors while bypassing governance processes, a proposal that was scrapped after widespread backlash.
FairSquare is seeking a two-year ban on Infantino from football activities. “But this complaint is about a lot more than Infantino,” he added. “Really, for us, it’s about demonstrating to the policymakers who should be scrutinising FIFA’s conduct and its governance that the organization is incapable of regulating itself.”
ALSO READ: Belgian federation says it can’t back Infantino’s FIFA president re-election bid
In July, the International Olympic Committee rejected a separate FairSquare complaint against Infantino over his support for Trump, saying it fell outside the IOC Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction.
FairSquare says FIFA’s Ethics Committee acknowledged receipt of the first complaint on 12 December last year but “has provided no update since.” Infantino is pursuing re-election to a fourth term in March, with no credible challenger having emerged so far, while facing renewed opposition to his candidacy.
Last month, FairSquare urged FIFA to rule him ineligible to stand again, arguing he has already served the maximum three terms allowed under the statutes; in 2022, Infantino successfully argued that his first spell, beginning with his 2016 election after Sepp Blatter’s resignation, should not count toward that limit as it completed an interrupted mandate.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Published on Sep 08, 2026
