A human rights campaign group has urged an investigation into whether U.S. President Donald Trump improperly intervened in the handling of Folarin Balogun’s red-card ban, arguing the move could breach FIFA rules on political neutrality and potentially signal the start of the end of Gianni Infantino’s time as president.
Trump confirmed on Monday that he had contacted Infantino regarding the sending-off. The red card had meant Balogun would miss the United States’ World Cup last-16 meeting with Belgium, until FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the punishment on Sunday.
Infantino, who has led football’s world governing body since 2016, responded in a statement that the disciplinary chamber operates independently. He added that he was not involved in the decision that allowed Balogun to return for Monday’s clash.
FairSquare, a nonprofit focused on sport and human rights, believes FIFA’s increasing drift toward political interests has been a concern for years, pointing to the 2018 World Cup in Russia as an earlier example.
“I don’t think there’s any question they’ve become far too politically aligned,” said Nicholas McGeehan, director and co-founder of FairSquare.
“I think the politicisation, probably because of how Trump carries on, has become most obviously and blatantly problematic (in the U.S.). But I think this is a trend that has come into force … since Infantino came to power, for sure.”
This month, 50 members of the European Parliament wrote to FIFA’s ethics committee supporting FairSquare’s complaint against Infantino. The lawmakers cited his backing of Trump’s political agenda, including the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to the American president.
McGeehan said the prospect of further political involvement could add mounting pressure on Infantino. “I think if we continue to see those types of political interventions, that’s going to put real pressure on Infantino,” he said. “I think Infantino is a symptom of the problem. He’s a symptom of an organisation that has a rotten governance structure.”
He added that there is a view within some circles that FIFA’s governance is so broken it cannot be corrected. “(There’s a general understanding that) it’s dysfunctional to the point where it can never be reformed. And I think the relationship with Trump is probably what sort of catalysed that understanding.”
McGeehan also suggested the Balogun red-card episode could become a “fatal misstep” for Infantino. The FIFA president has already announced that he plans to seek another four-year term, with elections scheduled for next March.
“People are outraged when the reputation of FIFA is smeared,” McGeehan said. “What I think you’ll find is that football administrators get seriously exercised when you start to jeopardise the integrity of the game.”
He continued: “We are definitely going to ask for an investigation into the circumstances of this. If there is a quid pro quo at work here, then that is a very clear violation of (FIFA’s) code of ethics.”
FairSquare previously called for Infantino’s predecessor, Sepp Blatter, to step down in 2015. Blatter had resigned after a major FIFA corruption scandal.
McGeehan said he believed sentiment within football could be shifting against Infantino in a similar way. “I think the sharks are probably circling,” he said. “He’s made far too many very serious missteps. And when you have a situation when you’ve got European lawmakers wading into debate about presidential misconduct, you have a problem.”
