By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: FIFA.
Gianni Infantino has been accused of breaching world football governing body, FIFA’s rules on political neutrality in relation to the US president, Donald Trump.
Infantino and Trump have formed a close bond in recent years, with the US one of the co-hosts for the men’s World Cup next year. Infantino even presented Trump with the inaugural Fifa peace prize at the World Cup draw in Washington DC last Friday.
FairSquare, a group which seeks to promote greater accountability in sport, has written a letter of complaint to Fifa’s ethics committee alleging comments made by Infantino about Trump – and the process followed to award him the peace prize – were in breach of Fifa rules.
“The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in, and of itself, a clear breach of Fifa’s duty of neutrality,” the letter stated.
“The Fifa president does not have the authority to unilaterally dictate the organisation’s mission, strategic direction, policies and values.”
Infantino and Trump stood side by side during the glittering ceremony at the Kennedy Center for next year’s tournament, which takes place in the US, Canada and Mexico from 11 June-19 July.
FairSquare also alleged a video post by Infantino on Instagram in January – following his invite to Trump’s inauguration – “indicates support for President Trump’s political agenda”.
Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare’s programme director, added: “This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino’s support for President Donald Trump’s political agenda.
“More broadly this is about how Fifa’s absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation’s rules and act in ways that are both dangerous and directly contrary to the interests of the world’s most popular sport.”
FairSquare has previously challenged FIFA over the human rights record of Saudi Arabia, the 2034 World Cup host; the influence of the kingdom’s oil company Aramco which is a highest-tier World Cup sponsor; FIFA governance standards; and FIFA’s slow-moving investigation into possible statutes breaches relating to teams from Israeli settlements playing in the national soccer league.