Infantino pressure builds as ethics and EU challenges converge
More than 100,000 people have backed a formal ethics complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino as European Leagues separately expanded its EU competition case against world football’s governing body to include the women’s game, intensifying pressure on FIFA’s governance and regulatory model.
Pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino has intensified after more than 100,000 people backed an ethics complaint against him while European Leagues widened its competition law challenge against FIFA to cover women’s football.The ethics complaint alleges abuse of power, breaches of political neutrality and failures of loyalty linked to Infantino’s relationship with US president Donald Trump and the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise investment proposal.FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan said: “The allegations are a lot more serious. We now have this public and political concern and we felt it was time to again put pressure on the FIFA Ethics Committee.”“Are you capable of holding your senior officials to account? That’s what we’re trying to do with this follow-up.”The complaint includes eight incidents and follows an initial submission made in December 2025, which FIFA’s Ethics Committee acknowledged but has not publicly updated.Among the allegations are that Infantino breached FIFA’s political neutrality requirements, created the FIFA Peace Prize without proper approval and developed the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise structure without sufficient governance oversight.FairSquare is seeking a two-year ban from football activities for Infantino and has also argued that he should be deemed ineligible to seek another term as FIFA president.Infantino remains committed to standing for re-election in March 2027 despite growing opposition to his leadership and governance record.The challenge comes alongside a separate escalation from European Leagues, which has extended its competition law complaint against FIFA to include the women’s international match calendar and regulatory decisions affecting women’s football.European Leagues argues that FIFA’s dual role as regulator and competition organiser creates conflicts of interest and gives it the ability to prioritise its own competitions and commercial objectives over domestic leagues.The association said: “The European Commission must now act to ensure that EU law is respected and that the future of women’s professional football is not determined unilaterally by FIFA.”The original complaint was filed in 2024 with FIFPRO Europe and LaLiga and focused on the men’s international calendar, including the expanded Club World Cup and World Cup.Its extension follows the addition of 14 professional women’s leagues to European Leagues, including the Women’s Super League and Scottish Women’s Premier League.The combined challenges raise broader questions over FIFA’s governance, regulatory power and commercial influence at a time when its leadership is already under scrutiny over the abandoned private investment plan.The next stages will now play out across FIFA’s own ethics system and the European Commission, creating parallel tests of both Infantino’s leadership and FIFA’s ability to defend the structure through which it governs and commercialises global football.