Infantino asked to attend an interview in Congress over ties with Donald Trump
The top Democrat on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin, has asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to agree to a transcribed interview and provide extensive documentation concerning the world football governing body's relationship with United States President Donald Trump. The request was made in a letter dated July 26, 2026, and FIFA was asked to contact the Committee's Democratic staff by 5 p.m. on August 9 to arrange the interview and submit the requested information. Raskin wants to determine whether the personal, political or business relationship between the two leaders influenced FIFA's decisions and the U.S. administration's treatment of the organization. However, the letter is not a subpoena, and the interview is not a formally scheduled congressional hearing. Because Raskin represents the minority on the Committee, he cannot compel Infantino to appear or force the production of documents without the support of Republican Committee Chairman Jim Jordan or a majority of the Committee's members.
In the letter, Raskin requested a list of everything that could be considered something of value provided to Trump, members of his family, administration officials or entities associated with them, including the Trump Organization. He expressly included money, gifts, awards, honors and public appearances in that category. FIFA was also asked to provide all documents related to the leasing of space in Trump Tower in New York and to the inaugural "FIFA Peace Prize - Football Unites the World", which Infantino presented to Trump in December 2025 during the final draw for the World Cup. Raskin additionally requested all communications between FIFA and U.S. officials since 2024 concerning matters that were before the Department of Justice or other federal agencies. The list also includes communications about ticket sales, dynamic pricing, consumer complaints and resellers.
Visitor records and messages from platforms that delete content are being sought
The request is not limited to formal correspondence. Raskin is seeking records of all visitors to FIFA's offices in Miami and New York during the period in which the organization used space in Trump Tower. The letter also instructs FIFA to preserve communications between its employees and individuals associated with the Trump administration and the presidential inaugural committee. It specifically mentions messages on platforms such as Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, X and Truth Social, including content designed to disappear after a certain period. In doing so, Raskin is treating the documentation as potential evidence in oversight of the enforcement of federal bribery and consumer-protection laws. The letter does not claim that a criminal offense has been proven, but seeks information that could either confirm or dispel the suspicions.
Raskin used particularly harsh language in the official document, describing part of FIFA's outreach to Trump as an attempt to gain favor with the administration. His claims should be read as political and investigative allegations made by one member of Congress, not as final court conclusions or officially established facts. The central question of the investigation is whether there is a connection between benefits or symbolic gestures directed at Trump and decisions by U.S. institutions that benefited FIFA. Among those decisions, Raskin particularly highlights the Department of Justice's handling of cases arising from the major investigation into corruption in international football. He is also seeking an explanation as to why, in his interpretation, federal authorities did not respond more forcefully to disputed ticket-sales practices for the 2026 World Cup.
The Trump Tower office became the focal point of questions about a possible conflict of interest
FIFA officially announced the opening of a representative office in Trump Tower on July 8, 2025, during the Club World Cup in the United States. Infantino said at the time that the global organization needed a local presence and thanked Eric Trump, Donald Trump and the U.S. government for their support in organizing major tournaments. FIFA presented the office as part of the expansion of its presence in the United States, alongside its existing operations in Miami, where its legal and operational teams are based. The mere fact that the office was opened in a commercial building associated with the president's family is not evidence of an improper arrangement. However, Raskin believes that the financial terms of the lease, the duration of the use of the space and contacts made through that office must be publicly explained to rule out the possibility that the business relationship served as a channel for political influence.
The letter cites an estimate that the annual market value of the space could be around 600,000 U.S. dollars, although all terms of the agreement have not been publicly disclosed. Raskin is therefore seeking the rental or lease agreement itself, related correspondence and visitor records. It is important to distinguish between two levels of the relationship. The first is institutional and expected: the United States was one of the three hosts of the 2026 World Cup, together with Canada and Mexico, so FIFA and the federal administration had to cooperate on security, visas, transportation and organization. The second is personal and commercial, and that is precisely what interests Raskin: whether legitimate cooperation between the host and the organizer crossed a line and created a privileged relationship with the president and his family company.
In March 2025, Trump established a White House task force for the 2026 World Cup by executive order, chairing it personally, while the vice president served as vice chair. The task force included the secretary of state, the secretaries of the treasury, defense, commerce, transportation and homeland security, the attorney general, the director of the FBI and other senior officials. The scale of the tournament required coordination across multiple cities. Nevertheless, the large number of contacts increases the importance of written records and of separating state interests from the private business interests of the president's family. That is why Raskin is seeking all contacts related not only to the operational organization of the tournament, but also to proceedings before the Department of Justice and consumer-protection issues.
The peace prize and the public closeness of the two leaders
The first FIFA peace prize, presented to Trump on December 5, 2025, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, drew additional attention. FIFA announced at the time that the honor had been introduced as an annual award for individuals whose exceptional actions contribute to peace and bring people together. During the ceremony, Infantino praised Trump's efforts and told him that he could count on his support and that of the football community. Raskin is now seeking all documentation concerning the creation of the award, its criteria, the decision-making process and communications with Trump or his associates. Critics consider it problematic that the head of an organization whose own rules emphasize political neutrality presented a newly established honor to the sitting president of one of the host countries.
FIFA and the White House publicly portrayed the relationship as a partnership necessary for the successful delivery of the world's largest football tournament. Trump and Infantino appeared together on multiple occasions, and the U.S. president also participated in the closing ceremony of the World Cup on July 19, 2026, following the final between Spain and Argentina. The presence of the head of state of the host country at a major sporting event is not unusual. The controversy arises from the frequency of the contacts and the connection between some of the activities and Trump's private business environment. Raskin is seeking to determine whether those symbolic and commercial ties remained within the bounds of protocol or played a concrete role in decisions made by FIFA and U.S. authorities.
The Folarin Balogun case intensified suspicions of political pressure
The debate over FIFA's political neutrality became even more heated during the World Cup after U.S. forward Folarin Balogun received a red card in a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1. Trump subsequently contacted Infantino and publicly demanded that the suspension be reviewed before the round-of-16 match against Belgium. FIFA allowed Balogun to play by postponing the enforcement of the sanction, and the decision triggered protests from Belgian football officials and calls by European parliamentarians for an investigation. Infantino said that he had explained to Trump that the matter would be resolved by FIFA's independent judicial bodies and that the decision had been made by the competent disciplinary body. By the end of July, FIFA had not published a complete written explanation of the decision, leaving room for doubts about the manner and speed with which the case was handled.
The Associated Press reported that European lawmakers requested an examination of whether pressure from the Trump administration influenced the decision and whether political-neutrality rules had been violated. FIFA rejects the claim that the organization's president personally changed the disciplinary decision. In a message published on July 26, Infantino described broader criticism of the tournament as the spreading of hatred and false rumors, arguing that disputed disciplinary decisions are common in football and that the championship had delivered safety, unity and record attendance. That message was not a detailed response to Raskin's letter, and as of July 28 FIFA had not publicly announced whether it would provide the documents or agree to the transcribed interview. This left open the question of whether the organization would seek to cooperate voluntarily or reject the request as politically motivated.
Raskin links the new dispute to corruption cases from 2015
The congressional request brings the major U.S. investigation into corruption in international football launched in 2015 back into the spotlight. The Department of Justice announced indictments at the time against senior football officials and sports-marketing executives over long-running bribery, fraud and money-laundering schemes. According to the Department's information at the time, officials were accused of receiving more than 150 million dollars in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for media, marketing and other commercial rights. In later stages of the investigation, the number of charged individuals and companies grew to more than 50 from over 20 countries. The cases seriously damaged FIFA's reputation and accelerated the departure of Sepp Blatter, after which Infantino was elected in 2016 on promises of reform and greater transparency.
In 2023, a federal jury in Brooklyn found former 21st Century Fox executive Hernan Lopez and the Argentine company Full Play Group guilty of conspiracies involving wire fraud and money laundering. In the letter, Raskin also refers to later developments in those proceedings and criticizes decisions by the Trump administration to abandon certain parts of the case. His political conclusion is that such actions may have been connected to FIFA's outreach to the president, but the publicly available documents currently contain no court ruling confirming such an exchange of favors. That is precisely why the requested correspondence is of central importance: it could show whether discussions about the criminal cases took place or whether the Department of Justice made its decisions independently of contacts with FIFA. The administration previously explained its priorities in those cases by referring to available resources and prosecutorial priorities.
Ticket sales expanded the investigation to consumer protection
Raskin expanded congressional oversight to include FIFA's ticket-sales system for the 2026 World Cup. In the letter, he argues that dynamic pricing, the way availability was displayed and the possibility of moving buyers to different seats raised serious consumer-protection questions. As a particularly striking example, he points to the difference between the maximum price of a ticket for the final projected in the host bid and the highest prices that appeared during sales throughout the tournament. According to the document, some of the best tickets reached almost 33,000 dollars, while the 2018 bid listed a significantly lower maximum price. Those figures do not mean that all tickets were sold at that price, but they illustrate the scale of the range and the dissatisfaction that accompanied the sales model.
The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey launched separate reviews of FIFA's ticket-sales practices, which Raskin uses as an argument that federal institutions should not have remained passive. He is seeking all communications between FIFA and the U.S. government concerning prices, complaints, resale and variable-pricing models. Ticket sales are a key commercial element of the tournament, but also an area in which FIFA's decisions directly affect millions of consumers. That is why this part of the investigation extends beyond the relationship between Infantino and Trump. Even if no political influence is established, disclosure of the documents could increase pressure for more transparent prices, clearer purchasing terms and stronger oversight of future major sporting events.
What may happen after the August 9 deadline
Under the Judiciary Committee's rules, a subpoena may be issued by the Committee chairman after consultation with the ranking minority member, or it may be authorized by a majority of members at an appropriate meeting. As the top Democrat, Raskin does not have independent authority to turn his letter into a binding order. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the Committee, was copied on the letter, but as of July 28 he had not publicly announced that he would support the request, schedule a hearing or issue a subpoena. If FIFA voluntarily provides the documents, the investigation can proceed without a formal confrontation. If it refuses, Raskin's remaining options include political pressure, publication of additional requests and an attempt to persuade Republican members to support official Committee action.
Infantino therefore does not currently face a mandatory appearance before Congress, despite headlines stating that he has been "summoned to a hearing". It is more accurate to say that he has been asked to participate in a transcribed interview with Committee staff while he is in the United States. Such an interview may be detailed and officially recorded, but it is not the same as a public hearing before members of the Committee. The request nevertheless carries significant political weight because it connects FIFA's governance, presidential business interests, criminal justice and consumer rights. The world football governing body's response will show whether Infantino will try to dispel suspicions by releasing documentation or whether the dispute will turn into a prolonged conflict over the boundaries of congressional oversight and the political independence of sport.
Sources:
- Democratic members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee - Jamie Raskin's letter to Gianni Infantino dated July 26, 2026, and the list of requested documents (link)
- U.S. House Judiciary Committee - rules of the 119th Congress concerning hearings, subpoenas and the authority of the Committee chairman (link)
- FIFA - official announcement of the opening of a representative office in Trump Tower in New York (link)
- FIFA - official announcement of the presentation of the first "FIFA Peace Prize" to Donald Trump (link)
- The White House - executive order establishing the task force for the 2026 World Cup (link)
- U.S. Department of Justice - official announcement of the indictments in the 2015 international football corruption investigation (link)
- U.S. Department of Justice - 2023 verdict against Hernan Lopez and Full Play Group (link)
- Associated Press - reports on the Balogun case, requests for an investigation and Infantino's response to criticism of the World Cup (link)