The International Olympic Committee has rejected a complaint accusing FIFA president Gianni Infantino of breaching political neutrality, saying the case falls outside the jurisdiction of its ethics commission. An IOC spokesperson said on Friday that the commission had reviewed FairSquare’s complaint in detail but could not accept it because its central issues concerned FIFA’s internal administration, relations with governments and decision-making as an international football body.
FairSquare filed the formal complaint on July 13. It alleged that Infantino, an IOC member since 2020, had repeatedly expressed public political support for US President Donald Trump, contrary to the Olympic Charter’s principle of political neutrality. The complaint also called for an investigation into allegations of Trump’s influence in the lifting of a red-card suspension for United States forward Folarin Balogun at the 2026 World Cup.
The IOC said international federations have their own administrative independence, preventing it from investigating FIFA’s internal decisions or its relationships with governments. FairSquare had submitted complaints to both the IOC and FIFA following controversies involving Infantino and Trump during the World Cup. A separate complaint filed with FIFA’s ethics committee remains unresolved, with FIFA yet to announce a final decision.