"Together we will make not only America great again but also the entire world." That's a quote from Gianni Infantino — FIFA's president — delivered after Donald Trump's inauguration. It's also the kind of thing that gets you hauled in front of an ethics committee.
Two formal complaints have now been filed against Infantino, and a third is on the table. The first came from nonprofit FairSquare in December, submitted to the FIFA Ethics Committee months before the World Cup kicked off. It cited four specific instances where Infantino publicly backed Trump — including calling for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and creating a FIFA Peace Prize, then handing its inaugural edition to the U.S. president. Article 14 of FIFA's code of ethics is unambiguous: officials must "remain politically neutral."
FIFA acknowledged receiving the complaint. That's about all it did.
The Balogun case turned up the heat
What might have stayed a slow-burn governance story exploded during the World Cup. Folarin Balogun received a red card in the USMNT's July 1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-match ban. Then FIFA reversed it — clearing him to play the round-of-16 against Belgium. The USMNT lost 1-4 and went home.
Trump confirmed he called Infantino three times about the case. Infantino denied interfering, saying he simply explained that "independent judicial bodies" would handle it. Whether you believe that depends entirely on how much faith you have in the independence of those bodies when the host nation's president is on the phone three times in a row.
Seventy-two members of the European Parliament weren't buying it. They wrote to national federations on July 8 demanding an investigation into whether Infantino was personally involved in reversing the ban and whether White House pressure played a role.
The IOC complaint and Norway's next move
FairSquare escalated on July 13, filing a second complaint — this time with the International Olympic Committee. Infantino has held IOC membership since 2020, making him subject to a second set of political neutrality rules under the Olympic Charter. The 10-page complaint alleges five clear breaches, and also asks the IOC to examine the Balogun reversal and a FIFA fan site allegedly linked to a Trump-connected data harvesting operation. The Olympic Charter allows the IOC to expel a member who "betrays the membership oath" or "acts in a manner deemed unworthy" of the organization.
The Norwegian Football Federation, which formally backed FairSquare's original FIFA complaint back in June, is now considering filing its own. NFF president Lise Klaveness put it plainly: "When you bend a rule like this, you're on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk."
Meanwhile, Infantino showed up at Trump Tower before the World Cup final to thank the president personally. "This World Cup would not have been such an incredible success without you," he told him. Trump, in return, has reportedly told the New York Post he wants to nominate Infantino as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
FIFA and the IOC both declined to comment. The Norwegian federation's next board meeting will decide whether a third complaint gets filed. Two formal ethics cases, two governing bodies under pressure, and the head of world football calling the U.S. president indispensable — that's where football's most powerful office currently sits.
