Gianni Infantino unlikely to face IOC sanctions over Balogun red card scandal

Gianni Infantino is poised to escape without sanction after complaints he breached rules on political neutrality in his dealings with Donald Trump over the Folarin Balogun affair.The International Olympic Committee this week received a formal complaint from the human rights organisation FairSquare regarding Infantino’s conduct after Trump revealed he had called the Fifa president asking him to review Balogun’s ban from the USA’s last-16 tie against Belgium. The ban was subsequently suspended for 12 months after an unprecedented ruling from Fifa’s disciplinary committee.Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020, and its charter states that members must act independently of political and commercial interests. It adds that they cannot accept “from governments, organisations, or other parties, any mandate or instructions liable to interfere with the freedom of their action and vote”.FairSquare claims that Infantino’s discussions on the matter with Trump represent a breach. Infantino denies this and the Guardian has been told there is unlikely to be a formal investigation.IOC sources have disclosed that there is an extreme reluctance on its part to intervene in an international federation’s application of its own rules, particularly when internal appeals processes have not been exhausted.Another source said the balance of power between the IOC and Fifa has shifted significantly over the past two decades, with the former increasingly reliant on the latter for commercial revenue and relevance among younger audiences.With the next summer Olympic Games taking place in Los Angeles in 2028 the IOC will hope to capitalise on the football boom in the US that has brought record ticket sales and revenue raised from the World Cup, making any action on Balogun even more unlikely.Significantly the IOC has yet to receive complaints from Uefa or the Royal Belgium Football Federation, who both condemned the decision to suspend Balogun’s ban.The Belgian federation said it was keeping all legal options open, including a possible appeal to the court of arbitration for sport, but has been silent since the team were knocked out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals by Spain, with sources indicating it is ready to drop the matter.Folarin Balogun of the US is shown a red card by referee Raphael Claus. Photograph: Phil Noble/ReutersThe federation’s president, Pascale Van Damme, is a member of Fifa Council, the governing body’s main decision-making organ.Infantino appears to have emerged from the scandal with his powerbase intact, with more than 200 of the 211 Fifa members having sent letters of personal endorsement to Fifa before next year’s presidential election.Uefa is understood to have decided not to take the matter further despite issuing a strong statement last week in support of Belgium which accused Fifa of undermining the credibility of football and integrity of the World Cup.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionInfantino has admitted speaking to Trump about the issue, but a statement made in his name by Fifa last week said they spoke regularly on a range of subjects, and that he does likewise with other heads of state.Infantino also said the decision to revoke Balogun’s ban was taken independently by Fifa’s disciplinary committee. “They operate autonomously, apply the Fifa disciplinary code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them,” he said. “Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.”The Times reported last weekend that the decision to lift Balogun’s suspension was taken solely by the chair of Fifa’s disciplinary committee, Mohammad al-Kamali of the United Arab Emirates, but other sources within Fifa have indicated that he is being offered up as a scapegoat.A unilateral decision from al-Kamali would represent a significant departure from the disciplinary committee’s usual processes during a World Cup, which are based on three-person panels being appointed to oversee disciplinary matters and decisions taken by a majority vote.Panel members are selected from the 18 members of Fifa’s disciplinary committee, with Thomas Hollerer, the general secretary of the Austrian Football Association, chairing the panel from the quarter-finals.The Guardian has been unable to establish the identity of the panel members for the last 32, the stage of the tournament where Balogun was sent off in the USA’s 2-1 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.Fifa has not published the written reasons for the disciplinary committee’s decision, but said in a statement last week that it “was decided considering all of the specific circumstances surrounding the incident and evidence available” and that “reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new”.