FIFA boss probed over Trump claim as star lifts lid on World Cup scandal
A complaint has been submitted to the International Olympic Committee, alleging FIFA president Gianni Infantino broke rules on political neutrality in his dealings with US President Donald Trump at the World Cup.
FairSquare, a human rights group who became an IOC member in 2020, filed an official complaint about the FIFA boss, after Trump took credit for Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban being scrubbed - allowing him to play in the national team’s round of 16 loss to Belgium.
President Donald Trump holds up a red card during a meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Trump’s involvement has raised questions about the fairness of the decision, with FIFA’s final verdict on the situation not well-received by the football world.
“Gianni Infantino has repeatedly breached the IOC’s rules on political neutrality by offering his political support for the President of the United States, Donald Trump,” FairSquare said in a statement.
“As outlined below, the evidence suggests that Mr Infantino has committed five clear breaches of IOC rules on political neutrality through statements or other clear expressions of support for the US President.
“We have also provided prima facie evidence of two further serious breaches, which we would request that the IOC investigate. The first of these relates to possible acquiescence to political pressure from President Trump to circumvent FIFA’s on-field disciplinary rules during the 2026 men’s World Cup.
“The second of these relates to Mr Infantino’s promotion of a FIFA fan site for the 2026 men’s World Cup, which appears to have been part of a data-harvesting campaign run by entities linked to President Trump.”
FairSquare made a similar complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee in December. The organisation said they were told their complaint had been received but no other information was passed on.
Fifty members of the European Parliament wrote to the same committee on June 29 urging it to address the human rights group’s complaint.
Infantino has been a member of the IOC since 2020, with all members of the organisation required to remain politically neutral. FIFA has the same rule.
Speaking to CBS, Balogun said while he was thankful to be playing in the Belgium clash, there was “a lot of outside noise” associated with the decision.
“When I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that’s so unique,” Balogun said.
“But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could. But it was difficult, you know, a lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.
United States’ Folarin Balogun. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
“It was a situation that was unfortunate, which gave me confidence. But as you said, it was confusing because the team was practicing without me being in the team.
“I’m almost just playing a supporting role to try to keep the morale high, and then think it was a day or two before kick off. I get told I’m back in the team, and we found out on the team bus.”
However, the American said the team was fully focused on the task at hand in the game against Belgium.
“We’re all professionals, so it’s not something I think was too difficult to be able to separate once we kind of got over the initial announcement that I’d be back in the team, and I think you definitely saw it was a difficult game against Belgium, and that can overshadow whether we were focused or not,” Balogun said.
“But, from being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game.”
The whole saga didn’t end too badly for Balogun, with the Monaco striker signing a deal with Klutch Sports, the agency founded by LeBron James’ longtime business partner Rich Paul and which also represents James, after making a name for himself at the World Cup.
