Infantino’s relationship with Trump is set to be investigated (Image: GETTY)
Gianni Infantino has been summoned to appear before Congress after an investigation was launched into FIFA‘s connections with Donald Trump and his administration. The relationship between the two parties has been subject to intense scrutiny, even before this summer’s World Cup. At the draw ceremony last year, Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, a move that sparked widespread ridicule.
It came just months after FIFA opened an office in Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, but the criticism reached new heights during the World Cup. The main controversy stemmed from Trump interfering to get USA striker Folarin Balogun’s red card suspended for one year. The move was met with outrage from around the world, given its unprecedented nature and the involvement of Trump.
It emerged that Trump had called Infantino to discuss Balogun’s ban before it was suspended, while he later posted on social media to thank the governing body for reversing “a great injustice”.
Now, according to The Guardian, Jamie Raskin, the leading Democrat on the House judiciary committee, has written to Infantino demanding that FIFA surrender any documents and correspondence relating to “gifts, payments or benefits provided to Trump and his associates” alongside visitor logs for the organisation’s office in Trump Tower.
Infantino has also been requested to appear before the committee for a transcribed interview, with a deadline of August 9 established for the requested documents to be submitted and the interview to be arranged.
However, given that the Democrats do not command the majority in the House, Raskin cannot force Infantino to attend unless he secures backing from Republicans.
In his damning letter to Infantino, the representative for Maryland stated: “Your election as FIFA president was supposed to mark a red-card break from a decades-long culture of corruption and scandals that dressed down world soccer’s reputation.
“Instead, at the start of your tenure, you dismantled FIFA’s ethical guardrails and disabled the organisation’s ethics committee by pushing out most of its members.
Jamie Raskin has written a damning letter to the FIFA president (Image: GETTY)
“This lack of transparency and oversight has since paved the way for you to ingratiate yourself with the Trump administration via tactics that a New York University law professor and one of your former ethics committeemen described as ‘legal bribery’.”
It follows Infantino’s scathing rebuke of FIFA’s detractors in an extensive statement, where he accused those who criticised the recent World Cup of being “consumed by hate and criticism”.
“To all of you who missed watching kids, babies, grandparents and parents come together for the beautiful game, I say sorry that the matches are now over and sorry that you missed all that joy and togetherness,” he wrote.
“Sorry that you were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed it all.”
The FIFA president continued: “To those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens spreading hate and false rumours, I want to say that while you are sitting behind, we at FIFA are on the front lines organising, working hard, and delivering the best show in the world.
“While you hide, we are exploring the streets of Canada, Mexico and the United States, talking with fans, engaging with people and ensuring everyone’s safety. While you divide, we unite.”
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