The European Parliament has not issued a request for a formal investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino [1].
This correction follows the spread of viral social-media posts that alleged European lawmakers were seeking a probe into the football governing body. The misinformation suggests a high-level political effort to scrutinize the integrity of FIFA's leadership and its decision-making processes.
According to fact-checking reports, there is no record of the European Parliament making such a request [1]. The false claims gained traction by linking the alleged probe to a reported phone call between Infantino and former U.S. President Donald Trump [2].
Additional social-media narratives suggested the investigation was triggered by the reversal of a red-card suspension for player Folarin Balogun [3]. These posts implied that political interference had influenced FIFA's disciplinary actions. However, these assertions remain unsupported by official legislative records from Brussels [1].
While some reports initially suggested that European MPs were pushing for a formal inquiry, those claims have been contradicted by verified records [1, 2]. The European Parliament, which serves as the legislative body for the European Union, has not authorized any such action against the FIFA president.
FIFA has not issued a formal statement regarding the viral posts, but the lack of official documentation from the Parliament confirms the claims were unfounded [1].
“The European Parliament has not issued a request for a formal investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino.”
This incident highlights the speed at which sports-political narratives can scale on social media, often blending real-world figures like Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino with fabricated legislative actions to create a veneer of legitimacy. By attributing the call for a probe to a formal body like the European Parliament, the misinformation attempted to shift the conversation from sports gossip to a matter of international legal scrutiny.
