After FIFA leader Gianni Infantino took part in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace launch, IOC President Kirsty Coventry said Friday the Olympic body will ”look into” his conduct.
Infantino and Coventry are among the current 107 International Olympic Committee members who are bound by an oath “to always act independently of … political interests.”
Trump hosted the peace board event Thursday in Washington, D.C., where Infantino signed a partnership on behalf of the the international soccer governing body, which could see $75 million of soccer funds invested in Gaza.
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Infantino has aligned FIFA closely with the United States government including attending Trump’s inauguration last year and making a series of visits to the White House and Mar-a-Lago. The U.S. will cohost the 104-game tournament with Canada and Mexico starting June 11.
“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 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.
Coventry was herself sports minister in Zimbabwe’s government until winning election in March as the IOC’s first female president.