LONDON (The Guardian) – U.S. House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin has launched an investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino, requesting documents detailing the football governing body’s interactions with U.S. President Donald Trump, his administration, and his family business.
In a letter sent on Sunday, Raskin asked Infantino to provide records and communications related to any gifts, payments or benefits provided to Trump and his associates. The request also seeks visitor logs for FIFA’s office in Trump Tower, which the organization opened after acquiring the space last year. Raskin additionally requested that Infantino appear for a transcribed interview.
The letter sets an August 9 deadline for FIFA to provide the requested documents and arrange the interview. However, Raskin cannot compel Infantino to testify because Democrats do not hold a majority in the House unless he secures Republican support.
In the letter, Raskin linked the request to concerns over FIFA’s governance and its relationship with the Trump administration.
“Your election as FIFA president was supposed to mark a red-card break from a decades-long culture of corruption and scandals that dressed down world soccer’s reputation,” Raskin wrote.
“Instead, at the start of your tenure, you dismantled FIFA’s ethical guardrails and disabled the organization’s ethics committee by pushing 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 via tactics that a New York University law professor and one of your former ethics committeemen described as ‘legal bribery.’”
The letter also refers to the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to “dismiss the indictments” of defendants in U.S. government investigations into corruption in global football, including the 2015 prosecution involving more than 20 senior FIFA officials and sports-marketing executives.
Infantino’s relationship with Trump received heightened attention before and during this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
At the World Cup draw in Washington in December, Trump received a newly created “FIFA peace prize” at the Kennedy Center, where renovations were reportedly rushed on the administration’s orders ahead of the event. FIFA also opened its office in Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan last July.
During the tournament, Trump made several calls to Infantino, urging a review of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s controversial red-card suspension before the Americans’ round-of-16 match against Belgium. FIFA later reversed the suspension, a decision that drew criticism from teams and football associations.
Trump also joined Infantino, alongside the top officials of Canada and Mexico, for the World Cup trophy presentation after Spain defeated Argentina in the final. The pair watched the match together from a glass-enclosed luxury seating area before taking to the field, where they were met with boos from spectators at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Raskin’s letter also addresses FIFA’s World Cup ticketing policy, which is already under investigation by several U.S. state attorneys general.
The use of dynamic pricing during the tournament prompted criticism after ticket prices surged, making matches unaffordable for many fans.
“The most recent quid pro quo that FIFA and President Trump orchestrated is not a victimless crime. It hurts Americans. FIFA has taken its newfound favored status in the Trump administration as a sign that it may rip off its consumers, most notably, by employing illegal price-gouging and fraudulent sales tactics for the World Cup,” Raskin wrote.