The International Olympic Committee will not investigate FIFA president Gianni Infantino, ruling that the complaint filed against him falls outside its jurisdiction.
The decision follows a complaint to the committee from human rights group "FairSquare", which accuses Infantino of breaching the Olympic Charter and failing to observe the rules of political neutrality "through explicit statements and displays of support for the American president".
Donald Trump had revealed during the World Cup that he phoned Infantino to ask him to reconsider a red card shown to American striker Folarin Balogun.
Balogun looked set to miss the round-of-16 clash against Belgium after his sending-off in the 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then came Trump's intervention. FIFA suspended the one-match ban for 12 months, offering no justification beyond a clause that allows penalties to be suspended, and the striker duly featured in the 4-1 defeat to the United States.
The objection rests on the fact that Infantino has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2020. Article Two of the Olympic Charter states that "members of the International Olympic Committee may not accept any instructions or mandate from governments, organisations or any other parties that would interfere with their freedom of action or vote".
According to the BBC, the IOC explained that the complaint falls outside the remit of its ethics commission. It pointed out that the matter concerns the governance and administrative decisions of an international federation, its relations with governments and its application of the regulations of its sport, none of which fall under the committee's code of ethics.
That statement came a day after the Norwegian Football Federation revealed it was weighing up an official complaint to FIFA's ethics committee over the decision to suspend Balogun's ban.