The International Olympic Committee will not investigate Gianni Infantino, saying a complaint that the Fifa president breached its charter by supporting Donald Trump is “outside” its scope.
The decision came after human rights campaign group FairSquare complained that Infantino had violated the Olympic charter’s political neutrality rules “through statements or other clear expressions of support for the US president”. The charge stems from Trump’s admission during the World Cup that he had called Infantino to ask for a review of a red card shown to US striker Folarin Balogun.
“IOC says complaint about Infantino's Trump support is outside its ethics scope.”
Balogun was sent off in a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and faced a one-match ban that would have ruled him out of the last-16 tie against Belgium. But after Trump’s intervention, the suspension was suspended for 12 months. No reason was given beyond citing a rule that allows punishments to be delayed. Balogun started the match, which Belgium won 4-1.
Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020. Section two of the Olympic charter states: “Members of the IOC will not accept from governments, organisations, or other parties, any mandate or instructions liable to interfere with the freedom of their action and vote.”
Despite that, the IOC said the complaint fell outside the jurisdiction of its ethics commission. “The current complaint, with regard to the Fifa president, refers only to the international federation’s decisions on its governance and its management, including its relations with government, and to the international federation’s implementation of the rules of its sport, which are both outside the scope of application of the IOC code of ethics,” it said.
The IOC statement came a day after it emerged the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) was considering a formal complaint to Fifa’s ethics committee about the decision to suspend Balogun’s ban. NFF president Lise Klaveness said the federation had reacted with “strong concern” and a decision on whether to proceed would be made at its next board meeting. The NFF has already filed a complaint about Fifa’s first Peace Prize being awarded to Trump.
