The Norwegian Football Federation denounces Infantino before the FIFA Ethics Committee

The Norwegian Football Federation has filed a complaint against the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, before the Ethics Committee of the highest body in world football. The reasons why the Scandinavian country's entity has made this decision are three: the failed proposal to privatize the World Cup, the controversial withdrawal of the red card to American striker Folarin Balogun in the round of 16 of the last World Cup and the awarding of the Peace Prize to Donald Trump.

Thus, the body chaired by Lise Klaveness becomes the first to denounce Gianni Infantino. The Norwegian Federation has been one of the most critical of the FIFA president and even asked for his resignation after the FIFA Forward Enterprise project became known, through which the Swiss lawyer intended to sell the World Cup to JP Morgan and Thrive Capital, owned by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law.

In the past, Klaveness also criticized the human rights violations suffered by migrant workers in the construction of the Qatar World Cup stadiums. She has also been a vehement opponent of the “lack of transparency” that she believes exists within the highest governing body.

Infantino's controversial closeness to Donald Trump has caused strong rejection in the world of football since the creation of a Peace Prize tailor-made for the Republican president, who longed to win the Nobel in that category. But that complicity was even more evident in the World Cup, when FIFA annulled Balogun's red card after pressure exerted by the American president.

Beyond Norway, Infantino's relationship with the European federations has not been at its best since he announced his project to privatize the World Cup at the end of July. UEFA then announced that all its member countries would withdraw from competitions organized by FIFA. Then, the president of the highest world football body withdrew his controversial proposal.

The Federation has asked the FIFA Ethics Committee to “investigate whether FIFA President Gianni Infantino and other people involved may have violated the FIFA Code of Ethics,” according to the statement they published on their social networks. The organization will investigate whether the Swiss actually ignored the legal filters in the three events reported by the entity chaired by Lise Klaveness.

The request comes just a few days before the next FIFA council is held, on October 15, in Zurich (Switzerland). In addition, the presidential elections at the highest football body will take place in March. Before the crisis unleashed by the privatization proposal, Infantino's re-election was taken for granted, but the strong rejection he experienced represented a strong response to Infantino's leadership, which, added to Norway's complaint, weakened him in the face of scrutiny.