EU sports commissioner slams FIFA's 'poor governance' as ethics complaint mounts against Infantino

Glenn Micallef sat in his Brussels office and told Deutsche Welle what he thought of FIFA's plan to sell a fifth of the World Cup's commercial rights to private investors. The European Union's sports commissioner called it poor governance, another step in a direction that was damaging to football itself. The plan, which FIFA had announced in July and then abandoned after widespread backlash, represented exactly the kind of decision that worried him: the sport being hollowed out from the inside, treated as an asset to be carved up rather than a shared institution.

Micallef was careful about one thing, though. When asked if FIFA President Gianni Infantino should resign, he declined to say so directly. That decision, he explained, belonged to the national associations and federations that make up world football. What he hoped for was an open process, one where accountability could actually happen. "I hope that they will have the chance to have an open process where they can discuss these things, where they can ensure accountability and responsibility for these issues," he said.

But the pressure on Infantino was mounting from multiple directions. The human rights organization FairSquare had submitted an updated ethics complaint to FIFA's ethics committee, this one backed by more than 100,000 signatures collected through its "Reboot FIFA" campaign. The complaint detailed eight instances—four of them newly documented—in which Infantino allegedly violated FIFA's ethics rules. Several of these centered on the World Cup privatization scheme. Others included his reversal of a red card ban for US player Folarin Balogun. What connected them, according to FairSquare's analysis, was Infantino's relationship with US President Donald Trump. The organization alleged in its complaint that Infantino had abused his power, violated his duty of political neutrality, and breached his duty of loyalty in an effort to curry favor with the American president. "The evidence that he sought to gain personally from this pattern of behaviour adds to the seriousness of the allegations," FairSquare wrote.

Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare's director, told DW that UEFA—European football's governing body and one of Infantino's fiercest critics—should throw its weight behind the complaint. He acknowledged that FIFA's ethics committee might be weak, but it existed as a mechanism that could be used. "I think [the ethics committee] is a paper tiger, but it is a mechanism that could be usefully deployed," he said. "You have a mechanism within this organization that could be used to get this guy out. So why aren't you supporting these complaints?" In August, UEFA had already announced it was considering bringing a criminal complaint against Infantino over the World Cup privatization plans.

Micallef's position was clear on the substance: "Football is not for sale." He acknowledged that the sport needed investment, but not at the cost of its integrity. The role of FIFA leadership, he argued, was to help football grow and reach more people—not to profit from it. "Football belongs to us, the fans," he said. Yet despite the controversy and the mounting complaints, Infantino had confirmed he would run for a fourth term as FIFA president in March. FIFA itself had not responded to DW's request for comment, but the organization had previously issued a statement saying there was a "concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine FIFA and its president."

McGeehan pressed further, calling on the European Union to intervene directly. He argued that sports organizations had shown they could not regulate themselves effectively. "I think there are a lot of football supporters who are dreadfully concerned about the way the game is run, but think that there is no way to fix it," he said. "And of course, there's always a way to fix it, and the way to fix it is politics."

The EU was already examining FIFA's conduct through another lens. The European Commission's competition watchdog had received a complaint about FIFA's control over the international match calendar—filed by an umbrella group representing Europe's domestic football leagues, which alleged FIFA abused its dual role as both competition organizer and global regulator to favor its own events. On Tuesday, that complaint was expanded to include women's football. Micallef did not rule out using EU competition law as a tool. "The fact that sport is autonomous does not absolve it of its responsibilities under the law," he said. "So I don't exclude competition policy. Competition policy is a tool in our war chest, but I would much rather prefer to address these issues through dialogue than through competition lawyers." He pointed to the EU's successful intervention the previous year in blocking Spanish and Italian league matches from being played outside Europe—a move that had resonated with fan groups. When football's stakeholders came together and sent a clear message, he suggested, real change was possible. "We deserve proper governance," he said. "That's not too much to ask."