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fifa President Gianni Infantino’s public support for Donald trump And the peace prize awarded to the US president is the subject of formal complaints to the global football body’s ethics investigators.
London-based human rights nonprofit FairSquare said on Tuesday it had filed a request to investigate Infantino’s alleged breach of FIFA’s statutory duty to remain politically neutral.
FIFA said its ethics committee does not comment on potentially ongoing cases, and could not confirm receipt of a complaint.
FIFA’s ethical code provides for a ban of up to two years from football for breaching the duty of neutrality, although it is unclear whether the case will be taken up. Some observers believe that the current ethics investigators and judges appointed by FIFA are operating with less independence than their predecessors a decade ago, when then-Pres. sepp blatter Removed from post.
Infantino has expressed views this year supporting Trump and his policies, including suggesting that the US President deserves to Nobel Peace Prize Which he could not win.
The FIFA leader has sought to tie soccer closer to the United States government ahead of the men’s 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted with Canada and Mexico. FIFA should earn more than 10 billion dollars from this tournament.
After Trump received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, the political leaders of the three co-hosts joined Infantino on stage to introduce the World Cup tournament draw in Washington DC last Friday.
“Giving such an award to a sitting political leader is in itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality,” FairSquare said in an eight-page complaint.
FIFA has not explained how Infantino created the peace prize last month, although people familiar with the process in private conversations said they learned of it through media reports.
“If Mr. Infantino acted unilaterally and without any statutory authority, it should be considered a serious abuse of power,” Fairsquare said.
FairSquare has previously challenged FIFA over the human rights record of 2034 World Cup host Saudi Arabia; the influence of state oil company Aramco, which is the top-tier World Cup sponsor; FIFA Governance Standards; and FIFA’s slow-moving investigation into possible law violations related to Israeli settlements teams playing in the National Football League.
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