February 23 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s growing bromance with U.S. President Donald Trump has attracted interest in the corridors of power of Olympic sport, though having initially said they would investigate, have now issued a statement saying that the role Infantino is promoting for FIFA in Gaza is “in keeping’ with the role os a sports federation.
The IOC, which has close links with the United Nations and its various development and humanitarian programmes, made no comment on the politics of Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ and its workaround of NGOs already working in providing aid and support to Palestinians either in Gaza and increasingly in the Israeli occupied West Bank”.
After the FIFA president appeared at Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ launch in Washington, IOC president Kirsty Coventry confirmed the Olympic body will “look into” Infantino’s conduct.
The investigation, if there was one, was remarkably swift, with the IOC’s statement saying: “The IOC has been in contact with FIFA. We understand that FIFA is supporting, through football, a comprehensive sport recovery investment programme in Gaza, Palestine, by providing sporting infrastructure, education and elite development proposals. This is entirely in keeping with the role of an International Sport Federation. The IOC, through Olympic Solidarity, which is our development vehicle, has been and continues to support sport development in the region.”
At the Board of Peace launch, hosted by Trump in Washington, D.C., Infantino signed a partnership on FIFA’s behalf that could see up to $75 million in football-related funds invested in Gaza. With the World Cup fast approaching, Infantino has made repeated visits to the White House and Trump’s winter palace, Mar-a-Lago.
“The Olympic Charter is very clear on what it expects of its members and we will go and research into the alleged signing of documents, I guess,” Coventry said at her final press conference at the Milan Cortina Winter Games. She added she had been unaware that Infantino was “front and center” at the event.
“Now that you guys have made us aware of it,” Coventry continued, “we will go back and we’ll have a look into it.”
Infantino was elected as an IOC member during the 135th IOC Session in Lausanne in January 2020. He is one of the 107 IOC members, all bound by an oath “to always act independently of … political interests.”
The IOC’s position is rooted in that neutrality, despite many of its members coming from government positions. Its membership includes figures such as Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Saudi Arabia’s U.S. ambassador, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.
“I think from the IOC’s point of view we will continue to be politically neutral,” Coventry said. “That’s the only way for us as an organisation to ensure that we allow for there to be fairness on the field of play.”
In November, former FIFA Governance Committee chair Miguel Maduro accused Infantino of a “clear violation” of FIFA’s neutrality statutes after he said in Miami that “we should all support what he (Trump) is doing.” A month later, watchdog group FairSquare filed a formal complaint to FIFA’s Ethics Committee alleging “repeated breaches” of that duty of neutrality.
FIFA has a 12-team men’s U23 tournament at the 2028 Olympics, while its women’s tournament, one of the key women’s national team tournaments in the international football calendar, is to be expanded to 16 teams in 2028.
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