What this is about

In recent years, mounting evidence suggests he is using his office to cultivate personal closeness to powerful figures and to serve private interests, at the expense of the independence and credibility of world football's governing body.

Our concerns

1.  Alleged political interference in the Balogun case (July 2026)
   
   In the USA's round-of-32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, US striker Folarin Balogun received a red card after VAR review, normally triggering an automatic one-match suspension that, under FIFA rules, cannot be appealed. Just days later, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee unexpectedly lifted the suspension and converted it into a one-year suspended sentence, clearing Balogun to play in the round-of-16 match against Belgium. According to matching reports from the New York Times and the news agency AFP, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, US President Donald Trump personally called Infantino directly after the match to request a review of the suspension. Trump subsequently thanked FIFA publicly. The Belgian football federation said it was "astonished" by the decision and is exploring legal options, arguing it contradicts FIFA's own regulations. Fairsquare, the human rights organization that has already filed an ethics complaint against Infantino, called the move a potential "scandalous breach" of competition rules if the host nation used its political influence to secure an unfair advantage for one of its own players. This is the first time since 1962 that FIFA has fully lifted an automatic red-card suspension.
   
   
2. Violation of political neutrality
   
   FIFA's own statutes commit it to political neutrality. Infantino has repeatedly called that neutrality into question through his demonstrative closeness to US President Donald Trump: joint appearances during state visits, a FIFA "Peace Prize" created specifically for Trump after he was denied the actual Nobel Peace Prize, and a seat on Trump's parallel "Peace Council." The human rights organization Fairsquare has formally filed a complaint with the FIFA Ethics Committee over this, a complaint backed by the Norwegian football federation.
   
   
3.  Commercialization at the fans' expense
   
   Historically high ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup have drawn criticism. Fan organizations estimate that following a team from its first match through to the final can cost several thousand US dollars, while cheaper ticket categories are not made available through national federations to the same extent as pricier ones.
   
   
4. Lack of accountability
   
   Despite repeated public criticism and ongoing ethics complaints, Infantino has shown no sign of being troubled by it, routinely dismissing criticism rather than addressing the questions raised.

Our demand

We call on Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA President, and on FIFA to establish independent, transparent structures that prevent this kind of closeness between officials and individual governments in the future.

Football belongs to the fans, the clubs, and the players! Not to anyone's personal agenda.

Sign this petition if you want an independent, credible FIFA.