MEPs Demand FIFA Investigate President Infantino Over Political Neutrality Breach
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- Fifty European Parliament members are urging FIFA to investigate its president, Gianni Infantino, for allegedly violating political neutrality rules.
- The lawmakers support a complaint by NGO FairSquare regarding the creation and awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize to President Trump.
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Fifty members of the European Parliament are demanding that FIFA investigate its president, Gianni Infantino, over alleged violations of the football federation’s own political neutrality rules.
In a letter obtained by POLITICO, the lawmakers express support for a complaint filed by human rights NGO FairSquare, asking FIFA’s ethics committee to look into “the decisions to introduce an annual FIFA Peace Prize and then award the prize to President Trump.”
The World Cup “is supposed to unite the world,” said Renew MEP Barry Andrews, who wrote the letter. “When FIFA President Infantino favours one President over another, this brings FIFA and the whole tournament into disrepute.”
“With the eyes of the world on FIFA this summer, the organisation must address FairSquare’s ethics complaint,” the letter reads. “This complaint represents an opportunity for FIFA to prove its commitment to political neutrality, transparency, and accountability.”
Trump was awarded the inaugural prize by Infantino on Dec. 5, 2025. Fairsquare’s initial complaint was filed three days later. The football federation chief did not inform the FIFA Council before creating the prize, and critics saw the award as a naked attempt by the FIFA boss to ingratiate himself with the U.S. president.
MEPs argue that Infantino’s public statements in favor of the U.S. president breach the federation’s statute, which states that “FIFA remains neutral in matters of politics and religion.”
FIFA acknowledged receipt of the complaint in December but has not yet responded to the MEPs’ letter.
FIFA did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
Members of the European Parliament had previously blasted FIFA over its decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, a country plagued by human rights concerns. EU lawmakers said at the time that FIFA was undermining its own principles in awarding the World Cup, a claim which a FIFA official later rebutted.
“We are merely asking for the FIFA Ethics Committee to fully investigate the awarding of the inaugural FIFA Peace prize to President Trump, and to ensure that due process is done,” Andrews said.
