Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, has written to FIFA president Gianni Infantino requesting that he appear before the committee to scrutinize the organization's relationship with the Trump administration.

In the years leading up to this summer's men's World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Infantino appeared to court U.S. President Donald Trump, gifting him a newly created FIFA Peace Prize — described by FIFA as "an award to recognise exceptional actions for peace and unity" — taking office space in Trump Tower in New York City and changing FIFA's plans to host the World Cup draw last December in Las Vegas to instead hosting the event at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., a performing arts venue that had been taken over by Trump and his political allies.

World Cup Controversy

During the World Cup, the relationship attracted global outrage when the U.S. president made a phone call to Infantino to request a review of U.S. player Folarin Balogun's suspension from a World Cup knockout game, with FIFA subsequently declaring the player able to play. FIFA insists the decision was taken independently.

"Lightweight Jamie Raskin (is) a stupid person's idea of a smart person," White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to The Athletic. "No other president in history could have pulled off the historic feat that President Trump delivered for the American people and the world. Thanks to his bold vision and decisive leadership, the 2026 FIFA World Cup generated billions of dollars in revenue, created a massive economic boost across host cities, and delivered a safe, secure, and seamless experience for millions of fans and athletes from around the globe."

Document Requests

In the letter sent on Sunday night and seen by The Athletic, Rep. Raskin requests Infantino produce "a list of anything of value (including transfer of money, gifts, prizes, awards, or public appearances) given to President Trump, members of his Administration, or their family members, or any entity associated with them, such as The Trump Organization."

Raskin has also requested all visitor logs for FIFA's Miami and New York City offices for the duration of its New York City office lease term. The congressman wrote that his letter "serves as notice" for all communications to be preserved "between FIFA personnel and individuals affiliated with the Trump Administration or its inaugural committee — including disappearing messages exchanged on ephemeral communication platforms, such as Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, X, and Truth Social."

The letter ends by requesting that Infantino appear for a transcribed interview with the committee. Raskin's letter also posed questions about the U.S. Department of Justice's recent move to "dismiss the indictments" of certain defendants in the government's longstanding investigations into corruption in international soccer, tracing back to the 2015 FIFA corruption crisis.

Ticketing Concerns

Raskin's letter also raised FIFA's controversial ticketing policy during the World Cup, which is already facing investigations by the Attorneys General of New York, New Jersey, Texas and California. The original North American bid promised a maximum finals ticket price of $1,550 — FIFA surged finals tickets to nearly $33,000 per seat, more than 20 times the promised price.

"FIFA has taken its newfound favored status in the Trump Administration as a sign that it may rip off its consumers, most notably, by employing illegal price gouging and fraudulent sales tactics for the World Cup," Raskin said in the letter.

International Scrutiny

Pressure has grown on Infantino following the decision to suspend Balogun's one-match ban at the World Cup, with more than 70 European lawmakers calling for an investigation into FIFA and its president regarding the principle of political neutrality. This followed 50 MEPs writing to FIFA on June 29, demanding that it addresses an ethics complaint regarding Infantino awarding the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to President Trump in December 2025 and alleging "repeated breaches" of FIFA's duty of political neutrality by Infantino.

UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, released a statement criticizing the suspension of the ban, saying it was "incomprehensible" and "crossed a red line."

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) has said it intends to make a formal complaint to FIFA over Trump's role in the suspension of Balogun's red card. NFF president Lise Klaveness confirmed the plans to raise the issue, which follows her federation's backing of December's ethical complaint in relation to FIFA president Gianni Infantino's decision to award President Trump the FIFA Peace Prize.