FIFA President Gianni Infantino may soon face scrutiny from the International Olympic Committee after a human rights organization announced Wednesday it intends to file a formal complaint accusing him of violating political neutrality rules by publicly supporting U.S. President Donald Trump.
The group, FairSquare, said it plans to bring the complaint before the IOC, describing what it calls Infantino’s “repeated breach of political neutrality rules.” The move escalates an ongoing dispute that already led FairSquare to challenge FIFA’s internal ethics process.
Infantino has held IOC membership since 2020.
FairSquare first brought a complaint before FIFA’s Ethics Committee back in December 2025, pointing to several instances in which Infantino “expressed his public support for the actions and policies” of Trump.
The complaint also calls on the Ethics Committee to look into Infantino’s involvement in creating a FIFA Peace Prize and the decision to present that award to Trump at the World Cup draw. “It also requests that the Ethics Committee investigate Mr Infantino’s role in the decision to introduce a FIFA Peace Prize, the decision to award it to President Trump … and the conformity of these processes with FIFA’s procedural rules,” FairSquare stated.
Reuters has reached out to FIFA seeking a response.
At the heart of FairSquare’s complaint is Article 15 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, which requires those bound by the code to remain politically neutral in their official conduct. Violations can result in a fine of no less than 10,000 Swiss francs — equivalent to roughly $12,378 — and a ban of up to two years from any soccer-related activity.
The complaint further asks the Ethics Committee to determine whether the creation of the annual Peace Prize and its presentation to Trump were decisions made by the FIFA Council as a whole, or whether Infantino acted on his own. “If Mr Infantino acted unilaterally and without any statutory authority, this should be considered an egregious abuse of power,” FairSquare said.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry confirmed Tuesday that no complaint had yet been received by the ethics commission, but said: “Obviously, if they do, they would look into it.”
Although FIFA’s Secretariat of the Investigatory Chamber confirmed it received the original complaint in December, FairSquare says the organization has given “no indication” that a formal investigation has been launched. In correspondence reviewed by Reuters, FIFA informed FairSquare that its secretariat may begin preliminary investigations into a “potential breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics” when directed by the Chairperson of the Investigatory Chamber. However, submitting a complaint does not ensure that ethics proceedings will be opened, and complainants are not considered parties to any proceedings, meaning they receive no updates due to confidentiality rules.
FairSquare kicked off a public campaign called “Reboot” — aimed at pushing for major reforms within FIFA — just one week before the World Cup began. Last week, the group revealed that 50 members of the European Parliament had written to FIFA’s Ethics Committee expressing support for the complaint against Infantino.
Norway’s national football federation also formally backed the complaint, urging the committee to examine whether Infantino violated FIFA’s statutes on political neutrality through the Peace Prize award and related actions.
The controversy surrounding Infantino deepened during the World Cup when FIFA suspended a red-card ban against American striker Folarin Balogun, allowing him to take the field in a round-of-16 match against Belgium — a game the U.S. ultimately lost 4-1 — after Trump personally asked Infantino to reconsider the case. Infantino, however, denied playing a role in the final ruling.
