LONDON, August 17. /TASS/. Non-profit organization FairSquare has sent a letter to the high FIFA management as well as its Audit and Compliance Committee demanding that the president of the organization, Gianni Infantino, be declared ineligible to run for a new term, The Athletic sports portal announced on Monday.

FairSquare had previously filed a complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding Infantino's actions and, according to the source, the complaint was related to the cancellation of the red card of US national team forward Folarin Balogun at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The 10-page document, which the portal allegedly came into possession of, states that "there is obvious evidence that the decision was made under political pressure exerted by the US president on Infantino."

FairSquare claims that Infantino breached the oath he took in 2020 at the IOC office in Lausanne, saying he would act regardless of commercial and political interests. The IOC refused to consider the complaint.

Balogun was slapped with a red card after he appeared to drive his cleat into the ankle of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic in their match during the Round of 32 at the World Cup. The Royal Belgian Football Association appealed FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s red-card disqualification ahead of its July 6 match against the US in the round of 16.

However, the Disciplinary Committee of FIFA rejected the appeal and Balogun appeared on the pitch for the match against Belgium at Seattle Stadium, where hosts USA eventually fell to the Belgians 4-1.

Reuters news agency reported at that time citing its sources that Balogun's red-card ban was scrapped after US President Donald Trump personally urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the case. However, the European governing body of football, UEFA (the Union of European Football Federations) issued a statement later in the day stating that FIFA had crossed a "red line."

US-based New York Post reported late last month that Trump wanted to see Infantino holding the post of the next UN secretary general. The publication noted that Infantino became close to the American leader during this year's FIFA World Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup was co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States between June 11 and July 19. The matches were staged in 16 cities across the three countries. This was the first FIFA World Cup featuring 48 teams instead of the previous 32-team format.

Infantino and FIFA’s commercial rights

Infantino announced a proposal on July 30 to sell a share of the FIFA World Cup commercial rights to private investors under a scheme that could potentially bring it tens of millions of dollars. The plan involves the establishment of a company that will control the major men's and women's FIFA tournaments - the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. The organization consulted with people close to the administration of US President Donald Trump prior to voicing this decision.

The European governing body of football, UEFA, later responded that 55 member-states of the organization voted to boycott all football tournaments sponsored by FIFA. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also rejected Infantino’s proposal.

In March 2023, Infantino was re-elected for another term of four years as the president of the world’s governing body of football. Infantino, who was 52 at that time, was running unopposed and he was elected unanimously at the 2023 FIFA Congress in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

Infantino was elected the president of the world’s governing body in February 2016 at the FIFA Extraordinary Congress in Paris. In June 2019, he was re-elected for another four-year presidential term.

Born in Switzerland, Infantino, 56, is fluent in French, Italian and German and also speaks English, Spanish and Arabic.