FIFA President Gianni Infantino has ignited a fresh wave of controversy, launching an impassioned defense of the 2026 World Cup while simultaneously becoming the subject of a US Congressional investigation into his alleged ties with former US President Donald Trump.

Infantino posted an unexpected statement on FIFA’s official website and across 15 slides on his Instagram account, lambasting critics of the tournament. He claimed those scrutinizing the event were “consumed by hate,” urging them to “meditate, pray or watch a football match” to “find peace.” The FIFA president asserted that the 2026 World Cup in North America featured “no violence, no incidents, 100% safety and security,” a claim that immediately drew scrutiny given reports of four supporters tragically dying during World Cup celebrations in Mexico City. He also defended FIFA’s handling of Iran’s national football team, visa issues, and the Folarin Balogun red card situation.

The defiant stance drew a swift and stinging rebuke from La Liga President Javier Tebas. “Today Gianni Infantino has written a pathetic message on his Instagram account and on the accounts of FIFA,” Tebas posted on X, adding, “No one disputes that football is emotion and unity. But transparency, good governance, and accountability are never hate; they are an obligation. Strong institutions do not discredit those who ask questions; they answer the questions. And a reflection Gianni: when a leader dedicates an entire message to disqualifying those who exercise legitimate scrutiny, it’s inevitable to wonder… why precisely now? Is there something that explains such a defensive tone? Is something happening that we don’t know about?”

Congressional scrutiny over Trump links

Adding to Infantino’s woes, Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, has launched a formal investigation into the FIFA president, according to The Guardian. Raskin is seeking documents detailing the ties between FIFA and Donald Trump and his administration, requesting Infantino to sit for a transcribed interview by August 9.

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The investigation highlights several points of concern regarding the relationship between Infantino and Trump:

• FIFA opened its office in Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in July of the previous year.

• Trump was awarded a newly created “Fifa peace prize” at the Kennedy Center in December, during the World Cup draw in Washington.

Trump reportedly made several calls to Infantino to lobby for a review of US striker Folarin Balogun’s controversial red-card suspension before the Americans’ last-16 match against Belgium, after which FIFA reversed Balogun’s ban. The Norwegian football federation is now planning to submit a formal complaint to FIFA ethics investigations over Trump’s role in this reversal.

Trump, alongside the leaders of Canada and Mexico, joined Infantino for the World Cup trophy presentation after Spain beat Argentina in the final. Both Trump and Infantino watched the final together in a luxury suite and were met with boos from the New York New Jersey Stadium crowd when they took the field.

Raskin’s letter also references the Department of Justice’s decision to dismiss indictments of defendants in US government investigations into corruption in global soccer. It further addresses FIFA’s World Cup ticketing policy, which has drawn criticism for dynamic pricing that led to massive surges and priced out many fans, and is already under investigation by several attorneys general in the United States.

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In his letter, Raskin did not mince words, stating, “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.”

Infantino’s election was intended to mark a break from a decades-long culture of corruption, but Raskin’s letter notes that he “dismantled FIFA’s ethical guardrails and disabled the organization’s ethics committee by pushing out most of its members” at the start of his tenure. This, Raskin suggests, “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’.”

Despite more than 200 FIFA members endorsing Infantino ahead of the presidential election in March, the mounting pressure from a US Congressional investigation and the public outcry from prominent football figures like Tebas signal a challenging period ahead for the FIFA president.

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