GENEVA (AP) — FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s public support for Donald Trump and a peace prize awarded to the U.S. president are the subjects of formal complaints to the global soccer body’s ethics investigators.
FairSquare, a London-based human rights nonprofit, said Tuesday it filed requests for investigations into Infantino’s alleged breaches of FIFA’s statutory duty to be politically neutral.
FIFA said its ethics committee does not comment on potential ongoing cases, and could not confirm receiving the complaint.
FIFA’s ethics code calls for a ban from soccer of up to two years for violating the duty of neutrality, though it is unclear if the case will be taken up. The FIFA-appointed current ethics investigators and judges are seen by some observers to operate with less independence than their predecessors a decade ago when then-president Sepp Blatter was removed from office.
Infantino has expressed views this year backing Trump and his policies, including suggesting the U.S. president deserved to get the Nobel Peace Prize which he did not win.
The FIFA leader also has closely aligned soccer with the United States government ahead of the men’s 2026 World Cup being co-hosted with Canada and Mexico. The tournament should earn more than $10 billion for FIFA.
Political leaders of all three co-hosts joined Infantino on stage to begin the World Cup tournament draw last Friday in Washington, D.C., after Trump got the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.
“The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality,” FairSquare said in an eight-page complaint.
FIFA has not specified how Infantino created the peace prize last month though people familiar with the process in private conversations said they learned about it through media reports.
“If Mr. Infantino acted unilaterally and without any statutory authority this should be considered an egregious abuse of power,” FairSquare said.
FairSquare has previously challenged FIFA over the human rights record of Saudi Arabia, the 2034 World Cup host; the influence of the kingdom’s oil company Aramco which is a highest-tier World Cup sponsor; FIFA governance standards; and FIFA’s slow-moving investigation into possible statutes breaches relating to teams from Israeli settlements playing in the national soccer league.
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President Donald Trump is presented with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize by FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
FIFA President Gianni Infantino pauses President Donald Trump during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
It's crunch time for a host of Bundesliga players with ambitions of playing at the World Cup.
Bayern Munich 18-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl is fighting to keep his spot for Germany, Deniz Undav's scoring streak for Stuttgart has put pressure on coach Julian Nagelsmann to take him to the U.S. in June, and Alejandro Grimaldo's form for Bayer Leverkusen could help him earn a spot for Spain.
Oh, and there's still a title to be won.
Bayern comes back into action after the international break with a vast 11-point lead over Borussia Dortmund. If Bayern wins its next two games and Dortmund loses both, the title could be Bayern's as soon as April 11.
Dortmund heads to Stuttgart needing points to keep pace with Bayern. Stuttgart's third, chasing Champions League qualification, and with a host of players chasing World Cup spots for Germany like Undav, Angelo Stiller, Jamie Leweling and Chris Führich. Dortmund's Carney Chukwuemeka's just made his Austria debut, too.
The tasks for Bayern at Freiburg on Saturday: Take care of business and avoid any more injuries ahead of next week's Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid.
Eintracht Frankfurt's World Cup hopefuls have a lot to aim for, even if the team doesn't in seventh place with a big gap to the European places. Hosting Cologne on Sunday is a chance to impress for players like Japan winger Ritsu Doan, who captained his country against England, Germany defender Nathaniel Brown and Belgium center back Arthur Theate.
Undav is a hot topic in Germany after scoring seven goals in Stuttgart's last six Bundesliga games and the winning goal in Germany's friendly win over Ghana on Monday. He's the second-highest scorer in the league but Nagelsmann still sees him as a bench option despite the up-and-down Germany form of Newcastle's Nick Woltemade.
The uncertain fitness of Jamal Musiala has opened up space for youngster Karl to impress for Bayern, and now for Germany, too. He combined well with Florian Wirtz on debut in last week's 4-3 win over Switzerland. Bayern teammate Serge Gnabry's stock for Germany is also rising.
Grimaldo played the full 90 minutes of Spain's 0-0 draw with Egypt and the Leverkusen left back returns to his club to push for Champions League qualification. That starts with hosting relegation-threatened Wolfsburg on Saturday.
He's not confirmed out just yet but the “minor issue” that ruled Harry Kane out of England's friendly loss to Japan could be a concern for Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.
Bayern's goalkeeping situation remains a concern, too. Manuel Neuer has been working his way back to fitness after not playing since March 6 and stand-in Jonas Urbig had a setback when a knee injury forced him out of Germany's squad.
It's the first game of a new era at Dortmund after Ole Book replaced Sebastian Kehl as sporting director. The future of defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who has a year left on his contract, is as unclear as ever.
The Easter holidays in Germany mean a tweak to the Bundesliga schedule. Instead of the usual Friday game, there are seven on Saturday and two on Sunday.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Lennart Karl of Germany and Derrick Kohn of Ghana challenge for the ball during an international friendly soccer match between Germany and Ghana in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Scorer Deniz Undav of Germany celebrates after winning an international friendly soccer match between Germany and Ghana in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
