FIFA President Gianni Infantino Explains Controversies: Trump Ties, Congressional Investigations and FIFA’s Rights Plan | Today’s news
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is once again at the center of controversy after his recent double whammy – a summons to appear before the US Congress over his ties to President Donald Trump, as well as a wave of criticism over FIFA’s alleged plans to partially sell advertising rights to the World Cup tournament to private investors.
Trouble came for the FIFA president a week after the World Cup final and mounting criticism for overturning Florian Balogan’s suspension after he received a red card. Controversy grew after Trump himself revealed that he had reached out to Infantino on the matter.
Here’s a look at two controversies involving Infantino:
Trump ties under the lens
The investigation into Infantino was launched by Jamie Raskin, who is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, because of his ties to Trump and the US government.
Raskin sent a letter to Infantino on Sunday calling on soccer’s global governing body to provide documents or communications relating to payments, gifts or benefits he provided to either the US president himself or his associates. The letter also called for the submission of visitor logs to the body’s office in Trump Tower.
The House Judiciary Committee also asked Infantino to appear before it in a transcribed interview.
“(Your) election as FIFA president should have meant a red card break from the decades-long culture of corruption and scandals that have marred the reputation of world football,” Raskin wrote to Infantino in a letter, according to The Guardian. “Instead, at the beginning of your tenure, you removed Fifa’s ethics barriers and disabled the organization’s ethics committee by forcing out most of its members. This lack of transparency and oversight has since paved the way for you to ingratiate yourself with the Trump administration through tactics that a New York University law professor and one of your former ethics committee members have described as an ethics committee.”
“The latest standoff orchestrated by Fifa and President Trump is not a victimless crime. It hurts the American people. Fifa has taken its newfound favored position in the Trump administration as a sign that it can rip off its consumers, particularly by using illegal pricing and fraudulent sales tactics for the World Cup,” the paper added.
FIFA plans to sell commercial rights to tournaments
Soccer’s world body has announced plans to sell non-controlling commercial rights to its tournaments, including the World Cup, to private investors to raise funds it says would help develop the sport in its member countries.
However, the move sparked controversy, with Europe’s UEFA accusing FIFA of “trying to sell the soul of football”.
FIFA is working with JP Morgan to set up a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FEE), which will sell a significant stake in the commercial rights to its tournaments to private investors.
The investment firm Thrive Capital, which is leading the search for investors, was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared.
Disgusted by the move, Uefa said: “This crosses a line that football’s governing bodies should never cross,” adding: “Uefa takes this extremely seriously. So should every national football association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game. The soul and governance of football are not for us financial owners to do business with zero transparency. It’s not selling Fifa.”
