FIFA president Gianni Infantino is under the scanner for taking part in US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace launch. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kirsty Coventry has said that the Olympic body will “look into” Infantino’s conduct.
Coventry, in her role as the IOC President, and Infantino, as a member of the IOC, are bound by an oath “to always act independently of … political interests.”
“The Olympic Charter is very clear on what it expects of its members and we will go and research into the alleged signing of documents, I guess,” Coventry said on Friday at her final news conference at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, adding she had been unaware of Infantino being “front and center” at the board of peace event. “Now that you guys have made us aware of it,” she said after a second question on the subject, “we will go back and we’ll have a look into it.”
The IOC’s membership, which is bound to political neutrality, includes the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud. It also includes Erick Thohir, the sports minister of Indonesia, which the IOC advised last year should not be allowed to host international sports events after refusing to let Israelis compete at the gymnastics world championships.
When Trump recently hosted the peace board event on Thursday in Washington , Infantino was at hand, and signed a partnership on behalf of the international soccer governing body, which is likely to see $75 million of soccer funds invested in Gaza. According to a report in the Associated Press, these funds also include a pledge from Infantino for a $50 million new stadium that will hold between 20,000 and 25,000 spectators. FIFA also promised to build a $15 million FIFA academy besides an additional $2.5 million for 50 “arena mini pitches,” or soccer fields, and five full-sized fields costing $1 million each.
“We don’t have to just rebuild houses or schools or hospitals or roads,” said Infantino. “We also have to rebuild and build people, emotion, hope and trust. And this is what football, my sport, is about.”
FIFA’s extravagant promises come at a time when the Gaza Strip is in ruins with entire neighborhoods bombed to rubble. There are daily life concerns surrounding water and sewage facilities, roads and electrical grids.
The USA are one of the co-hosts of the upcoming FIFA World Cup along with Canada and Mexico which will start from June 11. Infantino has been cozying up to the US President over the past year. He attended Trump’s inauguration last year and has already made multiple visits to the White House and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
(With inputs from AP)
