Embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been accused of a potential abuse of power and conflict of interest after the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) filed formal complaints to two FIFA committees.
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Federation → embattle → committees
Infantino’s aborted plan to open up the World Cup to private investors, the lifting of US forward Folarin Balogun’s suspension at the 2026 World Cup following an intervention by United States President Donald Trump, and FIFA’s awarding of a so-called Peace Prize to Trump form the basis of the filings.
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plan → abort → filings
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Messi → happen → Aires
The first filing made on Tuesday “asks the Ethics Committee to examine the conduct of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and any other individuals identified through the investigation for potential breaches of FIFA’s Code of Ethics”.
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filing → make → Ethics
The second filing is aimed at FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC) and “asks whether FIFA’s governance, financial oversight, internal controls and decision-making processes [have] worked as intended”.
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governance → aim → Committee
Lise Klaveness, the NFF’s straight-talking president and longtime critic of Infantino, told British media that Trump was the common thread in all three issues.
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Trump → talk → issues
The venture capital firm of Josh Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, was to be the chief investor in the ill-fated FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.
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firm → fat → plan
Infantino’s plan, launched just after this year’s hugely successful World Cup cohosted by Canada, Mexico and the US in July, would have allowed private investors to acquire stakes in a company created under the FFE initiative.
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investors → launch → initiative
The backlash that followed led to Infantino making a humiliating climbdown within days.
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Infantino → follow → days
“FIFA Forward Enterprise is a governance issue, but it’s connected to the two other cases because [of] conflict of interest and abuse of position, potentially,” Klaveness said in her interview with a British newspaper.
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Klaveness → connect → newspaper
“There is a line between all these three cases, and it’s the same political regime.”
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it → be → cases
Klaveness, a former international footballer, said Infantino had some serious questions to answer over a lack of transparency.
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Infantino → say → transparency
Balogun’s red card in the last-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina during the World Cup resulted in an automatic suspension for the match with Belgium.
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card → result → Belgium
But FIFA stepped in and suspended his ban, leading to widespread condemnation, especially when it emerged that Trump had intervened by phoning Infantino.
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Trump → step → Infantino
The FIFA Peace Prize award that Infantino presented to Trump in December has also been widely criticised.
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Infantino → present → December
“These are three very different factual cases, but they all have something in common that we want examined,” said Klaveness.
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Klaveness → have → something
“Is it in accordance with the rules of governance, as the FIFA Council should be the strategic body, and the president shouldn’t really have any unilateral power?”
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president → have → power
‘Misinformation campaign’
Klaveness, 45, had, in August, called upon Infantino to resign and forgo his bid to be elected to a fourth and final term as president.
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Klaveness → call → president
The 56-year-old Swiss has insisted he will seek re-election in Rabat next March, and as yet no other candidate has declared themself.
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candidate → insist → themself
Infantino, who was first elected in 2016, must secure a majority of the 211 votes from the organisation’s members in order to be re-elected.
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who → elect → members
The deadline to declare a candidacy is November 18.
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deadline → declare → candidacy
Klaveness has said she will not be a candidate — despite some observers, including Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter, believing she would be a good fit as FIFA chief.
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she → say → chief
Aleksander Ceferin, president of European football’s governing body UEFA, has said he is not interested.
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he → say → body
UEFA have been unsparing in their verbal assaults on Infantino and FIFA, dismissing the FFE plan as “a shady and opaque backroom deal”.
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UEFA → unspare → deal
The likeliest rival is thought to be Canadian Victor Montagliani, president of CONCACAF, whose body, along with UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has formed an anti-Infantino alliance.
However, while a swath of UEFA’s members have publicly withdrawn their support for the 56-year-old Swiss, some of the AFC’s associations, such as 2034 World Cup hosts Saudi Arabia and 2022 hosts Qatar, have pledged their loyalty to him.
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some → think → him
UEFA has also gone to a court in Florida in an attempt to access documents related to Infantino’s failed plan, hoping to gather evidence for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where UEFA and FIFA are based.
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UEFA → go → Switzerland
The latter responded by accusing UEFA of a “misinformation campaign” and saying it was attempting to “influence” the election.
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it → respond → election
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