Will ’extreme closeness’ with Trump pose a danger to Infantino?

FIFA President Gianni Infantino could face legal challenges over allegations of "unusual closeness" and personal business dealings with US President Donald Trump. There are several reasons behind this.

The investigation into him is likely to intensify as Democrats regain control of the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections. The head of soccer's top body could face criminal charges if he fails to cooperate with the investigation.

On July 26, Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee announced the launch of an investigation into Infantino and FIFA's activities. They alleged that Infantino and FIFA have been conducting "continuous activities" for a long time to gain closeness to Trump. In addition to submitting the necessary documents in this regard, the FIFA president was also called upon to appear in person at the hearing.

However, a Democratic spokesman complained on September 23 that FIFA's response to the investigation was not satisfactory. In his words, the response received from the organization was "totally inadequate." At that time, Democrats, being in the minority in the House of Representatives, did not have the power to issue a subpoena.

Having won the midterm elections and regained control of the House of Representatives, they now have the power to compel Infantino to appear at the hearing and to subpoena necessary documents. Failure to appear in violation of the summons could be considered a violation of the law and could open the way for criminal action.

On September 23, the Democratic spokesperson complained that FIFA has not yet provided any documents proving exactly how much money it has given to the Trump family. In addition, the key questions about the 'FIFA Peace Prize' given to Trump and how the secret agreement between Kushner and Infantino to sell the World Cup began - have not been answered.

Two days after the investigation began, on July 28, the British newspaper The Times reported that Infantino was planning to sell shares in a new commercial entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to private investors.

On the same day, FIFA confirmed that it had proposed that the FFE be given the responsibility of managing the commercial operations of the organization's various competitions, including the World Cup. The investors in this initiative were led by 'Thrive Capital'. The company's founder is Joshua Kushner, who is the brother of Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

However, the plan ultimately failed to materialize due to opposition from three continental confederations, including European football's governing body UEFA. UEFA also threatened to boycott FIFA competitions. Faced with criticism, Infantino announced the withdrawal of the proposal on August 1.

Despite the cancellation of the plan, UEFA has not fully regained confidence in the FIFA president. The organization has also announced that it will field a strong candidate to challenge Infantino in the next presidential election. Although the deadline for submitting candidacies is approaching, no candidate has been officially announced yet.

Infantino's support remains strong among football associations in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America, but FairSquare, an organisation working on human rights and sports rights, has called on member states to challenge the legality of Infantino's bid for a fourth term.

According to FIFA's constitution, a person can serve a maximum of three terms as president. However, before the 2022 World Cup final, the FIFA Council controversially decided that Infantino's first term from 2016 to 2019 would not be counted towards this count.

This interpretation opens up the opportunity for Infantino to run again in the 2027 election, despite constitutional term limits.