A complaint has been filed to the United States Internal Revenue Service calling for an investigation into claims an individual on the Fifa payroll was working privately as a housekeeper for Gianni Infantino.
If the IRS investigates and finds the claims to be proven then Fifa could lose its tax-exempt status in the US. Fifa has 501(c)(4) status in the country, a category for organisations “created to promote community welfare for charitable, educational or recreational purposes”.
The complaint, which has been seen by the Guardian and is supported by a number of documents, claims an individual “performed domestic work exclusively for Fifa president Gianni Infantino and his wife, Leena Infantino, at their Miami residence, while receiving compensation or benefits through a Fifa-affiliated entity”, and argues that “senior leadership, acting in their official capacity and on behalf of Fifa, have abused the entity’s tax-exemption status”.
The complaint goes on to argue: “If organisational funds or resources were used to pay for services benefiting a leader’s household, the arrangement raises serious questions about private benefit, financial reporting, compensation, and governance. The materials also raise questions about the accuracy of representations in employment, payroll, tax, and immigration records. We ask the agencies to investigate the underlying records and determine what occurred.” The IRS has been approached for comment.
The news comes as Fifa’s activities, and specifically Infantino’s involvement in the failed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme and his relationship with the Trump White House, are to come under intensified scrutiny from Democratic politicians in the US after the “blue wave” at the midterm elections. A spokesperson for the ranking member of the House judiciary committee, representative Jamie Raskin, said the committee had not requested documents related to the housekeeper but was “looking closely at those developments”.
A Fifa spokesperson said: “Matters related to the Fifa president’s personal and home life are private; however, for the avoidance of any doubt, the costs of any domestic staff are met by the Fifa president personally.”
The complaint, if taken up, would probably take months to complete and commonly the results of IRS investigations are not published. Any action taken as a result, however, would be in the public domain. The complaint was submitted by the Washington DC lawyer Abed Ayoub, who works in immigration law and has served as the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). Last year the ADC was part of the campaign Game Over Israel, which called for Israeli football teams to be banned from international competition.
Fifa said: “We urge the media to act responsibly. As Fifa stated in August, it is evident that there is a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine Fifa and its president. Fifa welcomes legitimate scrutiny. But scrutiny is not a licence to amplify false allegations. Where reporting is inaccurate or misleading Fifa will continue to challenge it directly and vigorously.”
Infantino has been described by his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, as a “dictator” who “no longer knows any borders”. Blatter, Fifa’s president for 17 years before resigning amid a corruption scandal at the organisation, made the remarks in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. He criticised the FFE scheme, the Fifa peace prize and, most significantly in his opinion, the overturning of Folarin Balogun’s suspension for a red card during the World Cup.
“Fifa is suffering,” Blatter said. “It is currently led by a person who has allowed himself to be blinded.” He described the peace prize as “embarrassing”, saying: “Why would he do something like that? Infantino awards a peace prize to someone who wages war against Iran shortly afterwards?”
In assessing the FFE scheme, which was abandoned after an international outcry, Blatter said: “Infantino no longer knows any borders. He doesn’t understand any of this.” He described the Balogun controversy as “the worst”, saying: “Statutes can be interpreted. But rules of the game must apply to everyone, you can’t interpret them.”
FIfa has been approached for comment.
