More Than 100,000 Back Ethics Complaint Against FIFA President Gianni Infantino

More than 100,000 people have added their names to a complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino that was submitted to the governing body's ethics committee on Tuesday, according to The Guardian. The complaint alleges that Infantino abused his position and failed to meet duties of political neutrality and loyalty through his dealings with United States president Donald Trump.

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The submission is part of the Reboot FIFA campaign, an initiative launched before the World Cup to challenge what its organizers describe as governance failures within FIFA. Fair Square, the advocacy group behind the campaign, sent a supporting letter urging the ethics committee to examine the allegations with urgency, transparency and rigor.

The Guardian reported that an earlier version of the complaint was filed in December but received no response from the ethics committee. That initial effort subsequently gained the support of the Norwegian football federation and 50 members of the European Parliament, while the public campaign continued to collect signatures.

Fair Square's letter identifies eight incidents that it says support the complaint. Among them are the decision to overturn a red card shown to United States forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup, after Trump said he had asked FIFA to review the dismissal, and the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise project.

The complaint also points to FIFA's peace prize for Trump, Infantino's involvement in Trump's Board of Peace in the Middle East and remarks in which the FIFA president pledged to work with Trump. Fair Square argues that those episodes raise questions about whether Infantino observed FIFA's requirement for political neutrality. The claims remain allegations before the ethics committee.

FIFA directed The Guardian to a statement issued a month earlier. In that response, the organization said it believed there was an organized effort to undermine FIFA and Infantino, and argued that critics without the backing of member associations should use FIFA's established democratic processes rather than allegations or misinformation. FIFA confirmed on Sunday that Infantino plans to seek a fourth and final term as president next year.