Fifty Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have written to FIFA demanding that the organization consider an ethics complaint filed against its President Gianni Infantino over his decision to award US President Donald Trump the FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025.
In December, a formal complaint was filed with FIFA’s Ethics Committee, alleging that Infantino had “repeatedly violated” FIFA’s duty to remain politically neutral, and calling for an investigation into Trump’s handling of the first FIFA World Prize.
First reported complaint Athleticwas created by FairSquare, a non-profit organization and advocacy group that focuses primarily on global labor migration rights, political repression, and sports. In the sports sector, the organization says it promotes “better, more democratic governance to prevent sporting institutions from causing harm and suffering.”
FairSquare’s complaint has since received support from the Norwegian Football Association, whose president Lise Klaveness criticized the fact that Infantino made the award decision without consulting the FIFA Council. She added: “It also needs to be assessed whether this is a violation of political neutrality. That will be decided by the ethics committee.”
Now 50 MEPs have signed a letter calling on FIFA to consider the complaint lodged by FairSquare in December. Letter seen Athletic, was sent to FIFA earlier on Monday and was addressed to both Infantino and members of the FIFA Council. A copy of the letter was also sent to FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström and the FIFA Investigation Chamber.
They write that they believe FIFA should address Fairsquare’s ethics complaint and demonstrate that FIFA upholds the “core values of fairness, equality and respect for human dignity” while asking that the letter be brought to the attention of all FIFA Council members.
The letter involves members of the European Parliament representing Ireland, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, Slovakia and the Netherlands. Among the main organizers were Irish MEP Barry Andrews, Dutch Lara Walters and Danish Niels Fuglsang.
FIFA and the White House have been approached for comment.
In December, Trump was awarded the first FIFA World Prize. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
FairSquare’s complaint was an eight-page letter reviewed by Athleticwhich was presented to the FIFA Ethics Committee. FIFA’s eponymous Independent Ethics Committee is one of its judicial bodies and, according to world football’s governing body, has primary responsibility for investigating possible violations of FIFA’s Code of Ethics.
The Ethics Committee has an investigative and judicial chamber. Representatives from Rwanda, China, Canada, Malaysia, Greece, Kenya, Argentina, Vanuatu and Panama are represented in the investigative chamber. The nine-member committee is headed by Rwandan Martin Ngoga, who is also Rwanda’s permanent representative to the United Nations. Sanction powers for violation of any FIFA rules and regulations may include a warning, reprimand, fine, compliance training and ban from participation in any football related activities.
FairSquare’s complaint details four alleged violations by Infantino of FIFA’s duty of neutrality as set out in Article 15 of FIFA’s Code of Ethics, all related to the FIFA President’s public support for President Trump.
It also asks the Ethics Committee to “investigate the circumstances surrounding the decision to introduce and award the FIFA Peace Prize and their compliance with FIFA procedural rules.” Trump received the Peace Prize midway through the World Cup draw in December in Washington, D.C., where Infantino presented the US president with a large trophy, medal and certificate.
According to the complaint, Infantino “committed four clear violations” of FIFA’s obligation to maintain neutrality. FIFA’s statutes state that “FIFA remains neutral in matters of politics and religion.” FIFA’s Code of Ethics also “requires that all persons bound by this code remain politically neutral… in their dealings with public institutions.”
The first involves Infantino publicly lobbying for Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in early 2025. President Trump has previously publicly stated that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, but is unlikely to receive it. On October 9, the day before the winner was scheduled to be announced, Infantino, speaking about Trump’s role in the ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip, wrote on Instagram: “President Donald Trump definitely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his decisive actions.” According to FairSquare, this intervention “represents clear personal support for President Trump’s intervention in a contentious political situation.” Venezuelan Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize instead.
Another alleged violation occurred on November 5, when Infantino gave an interview at the American Business Forum in Miami and began to passionately defend Trump and his performance as president of the United States. Trump spoke earlier in the day at the same conference on the same stage.
The FairSquare story recorded Infantino saying he considered President Trump a “really close friend” and the FIFA president saying on stage: “Sometimes I’m a little surprised when I read some of the negative comments (about President Trump). I’m not American, but as far as I’m concerned, President Trump was elected in the United States of America and was elected very clearly. When you’re in a great democracy like the United States of America, you have to respect the results of the election first and foremost, right?”
“At the end of the day, he was elected based on the program, based on what he said. He’s just doing what he promised, so I think we should all support what he’s doing because I think it looks pretty good.”
FairSquare claims that Infantino was taking a “very clear political position” in making this statement. It said that “any reasonable interpretation of Mr. Infantino’s comments would lead to the conclusion that he a) encouraged people to support President Trump’s political agenda and b) expressed his personal approval of President Trump’s political agenda.”
FairSquare added: “Furthermore, there can be no suggestion that these statements were made in his personal capacity as Mr Infantino was appearing at a public event in his role as FIFA President.”
The complaint also alleges that the violation occurred during the World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in December. It said the FIFA video presenting Trump as the recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize effectively repeated Trump and the White House’s claims that he had ended numerous wars around the world. In some of these cases, he was praised by the warring parties, but in others his role is more controversial, although in some cases tensions and/or hostilities persisted, according to a New York Times analysis.
FairSquare notes that Infantino then told Trump on stage during the draw: “This is what we want from a leader… you definitely deserve the first FIFA World Prize for your actions, for what you have achieved along the way, but you got it in an incredible way, and you can always count, Mr. President, on my support.”
The complaint alleges: “This constitutes a clear personal endorsement of President Trump’s foreign policies in multiple countries and ongoing armed conflicts. Statements of this nature violate the duty of neutrality set forth in Article 15 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.”
Trump and Infantino were close. (Jia Haocheng – Pool/Getty Images)
The last of the four violations relates to a short video posted to Infantino’s Instagram account on January 20, 2025, in which he thanked President Trump for inviting him to the President’s pre-inauguration rally in Washington, D.C., the previous day.
FairSquare reports that Infantino concluded the video by saying, “Together we will make not only America great again, but the world.” FairSquare argues that Infantino is betraying his neutrality by repeating the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) language often used by Trump in his political campaign and agenda.
FairSquare’s complaint says it recognizes that FIFA must engage with the U.S. government because it co-hosts the men’s World Cup, and also acknowledges that FIFA must also have a “functional and diplomatic relationship” to achieve its goals.
However, the document warns: “Mr. Infantino’s interactions with President Trump must be supported by and consistent with his duty of neutrality, which requires him to be impartial and impartial in matters of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, except when speaking about matters that affect FIFA’s own legal responsibilities or the human rights of football and FIFA itself.”
The final part of the statement calls for an investigation by the Ethics Committee into the circumstances surrounding the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize. The message quoted previous messages Athleticwhich stated that neither the FIFA Council nor FIFA vice-presidents were consulted about the award or selection criteria before the award was announced on 5 December.
The complaint calls for an investigation into FIFA’s “internal processes that led to its creation.” It said: “Awarding a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality.” He also argues that the FIFA Statutes state that the decision to introduce the FIFA World Prize should have been taken by the FIFA Council. He refers to Article 34 of the statutes, which states that “The Council shall determine the mission, strategic direction, policies and values of FIFA, in particular with regard to the organization and development of football at the world level and all related matters.”