Top News

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not investigate allegations that Fifa president Gianni Infantino breached Olympic neutrality rules through his dealings with United States President Donald Trump.

Human rights group FairSquare filed a complaint with the IOC earlier this month, pointing to Fifa’s decision to delay a World Cup suspension for US striker Folarin Balogun.

That delay was reportedly made after President Trump personally asked Infantino to review the red card.

Although Infantino is an IOC member, a committee spokesperson said its ethics commission had ruled that it had no jurisdiction, because the complaint was mainly about Fifa’s internal decisions and governance.

“The IOC ethics commission thoroughly analysed the complaint by FairSquare,” a spokesperson said.

“The commission noticed that, pursuant to the Olympic Charter, each international federation (IF) maintains its independence and autonomy in its governance. The IOC Code of Ethics’ scope of application vis-a-vis the international federations and their officials is specifically limited to their relations with the IOC.

“The IOC ethics commission noted that the current complaint, including with regard to the Fifa president, refers only to the IF’s decisions on its governance and its management, including its relations with government, and to the IF’s implementation of the rules of its sport, which are both outside the scope of application of the IOC code of ethics.

“Consequently, the complaint falls outside the IOC ethics commission’s jurisdiction. FairSquare has been informed accordingly.

“Separately from this complaint, as reaffirmed at the recent IOC Session, the IOC will continue its efforts to strengthen good governance across the Olympic Movement and to promote greater clarity regarding the respective roles, responsibilities and accountability of its constituent organisations.”

A statement from FairSquare called the decision “absurd”, and added: “The IOC’s commitment to political neutrality is as rigorous as FIFA’s.

“This will only add impetus to the calls for wholesale regulation of sports governing bodies since they demonstrate no ability to enforce their own rules with either consistency or impartiality.”

FairSquare had separately lodged a complaint against Infantino with the investigatory chamber of Fifa’s ethics committee last December.

That complaint covered four occasions on which FairSquare alleged Infantino had publicly shown support for the actions and policies of President Trump.

It also asked the ethics committee to examine Infantino’s role in the decision to create a Fifa Peace Prize and in the decision to present it to President Trump at the draw for the 2026 World Cup, as well as whether those processes complied with FIFA’s procedural rules.

FairSquare said earlier this month that it had received an acknowledgement of its complaint from Fifa’s ethics committee, but had not received any further update since then.

That complaint had been filed before the row over the Balogun case.

Fifa’s disciplinary committee announced on July 5 that the automatic one-match ban for the Monaco forward had been suspended. President Trump revealed the next day that he had personally lobbied Infantino to review the decision.

Infantino maintained that Fifa’s committees operated independently, but the disciplinary committee has not explained the specific circumstances that led to the suspension being deferred.

The Times has reported that the committee chair, Mohammad Al Kamali, took the decision alone.

UEFA issued a statement calling the Balogun decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”, and it is understood that its president Aleksander Ceferin stayed away from last Sunday’s final in protest over that matter, along with several other serious concerns about Fifa’s governance.

Balogun himself admitted that he expected a major backlash after Trump’s intervention, saying he knew it would "cause a lot of controversy”.

Speaking to CBS, Balogun looked back on the immediate aftermath: "My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my team-mates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that is so unique."

He added: "But the closer we got to the game I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid."

Víkingur Reykjavík5Keflavík1Full time

Red Bull New York IICrown Legacy FCWatch

Kickers OffenbachBayer LeverkusenWatch

Inter Miami CF IIToronto FC IIWatch

Chattanooga FCPhiladelphia Union IIWatch

Carolina Core FCChicago Fire FC IIWatch

North TexasLos Angeles Football Club 2Watch

Ventura County FCSan Jose Earthquakes IIWatch