The World Cup ended on July 19. However, FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s problems continue due to controversial actions.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the US House Judiciary Committee, has launched an investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino to investigate the relationship between soccer’s top governing body FIFA and the Trump administration and sent a detailed letter requesting documents.
In a letter sent on Sunday, Ruskin called on Infantino to provide all documents and contact information related to any gifts, payments or benefits given by FIFA to Trump and his associates, as well as visitor logs for FIFA office space acquired in Trump Tower last year. The investigation committee also asked Infantino to appear for a transcribed interview.
Infantino’s relationship with Trump has come under intense scrutiny during the build-up to the World Cup. FIFA awarded Trump the newly created “FIFA Peace Prize” at the World Cup draw in Washington last December. It is alleged that renovations to the Kennedy Center were rushed through at the behest of the administration to accommodate the event. In addition, in July last year, FIFA opened its new office in Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
The scrutiny intensified during the World Cup. Trump called Infantino several times to review the controversial red card ban for American striker Folarin Balogun before the United States’ round of 16 match against Belgium. Although FIFA eventually lifted Balogun’s ban, the political circus cast a dark shadow over the US team, drawing intense anger from other teams and organizations around the world.
Trump joined Infantino at the World Cup trophy ceremony, along with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, after Spain beat Argentina in the final. The pair, who had been enjoying the final match together in a luxurious glass-enclosed seat, were greeted by cheers from the crowd at the New York New Jersey Stadium as they entered the pitch.
Raskin’s letter referred to the Justice Department’s decision to “dismiss the indictments” of those accused in the US government’s investigation into corruption in world soccer, which included charges and trials brought in 2015 against more than 20 high-ranking FIFA officials and sports-marketing executives.
In a letter to Infantino, Raskin wrote, “Your election as FIFA president was expected to end the decades-long culture of corruption and scandal that has tarnished the reputation of world football by issuing a ‘red card’. Instead, early in your term, you dismantled FIFA’s moral shield by expelling most of its members and rendering its ethics committee ineffective. This lack of transparency and oversight has subsequently facilitated the Trump administration’s patronage through tactics that a New York University law professor and former member of your ethics committee has called ‘legal bribery.’”
