FIFA has not supplied documents relating to Infantino that Judiciary Democrats requested in July, as two challengers declare for March’s FIFA election.
Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives in the 3 November midterm elections, putting Representative Jamie Raskin in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee and gain the subpoena power he lacked when he opened an inquiry into FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s ties to President Donald Trump in July.
NBC News projected Democrats would hold about 255 seats, well above the 218 needed for a majority, and the party also won control of the Senate.
Raskin, the committee’s ranking Democrat, wrote to Infantino in late July asking FIFA to hand over its records of contacts with Trump, his administration and the Trump organisation by 9 August. The letter also requested visitor logs for FIFA’s Miami and New York offices, the preservation of messages exchanged on platforms including Signal and WhatsApp, and a transcribed interview with Infantino.
Now, The Athletic has reported FIFA had not arranged the interview or supplied the documents by late September. A spokeswoman for Judiciary Committee Democrats told the publication FIFA had not turned over records showing how much money it has given the Trump family, and said its cooperation was “woefully inadequate”.
A FIFA spokesperson said the organisation had held “productive discussions with the House Staff” and would address any remaining questions. FIFA’s US lawyers briefed committee staff in person on 19 August, mainly on the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) decision to drop indictments in the long-running US investigation into football corruption.
Democrat subpoena powers over Infantino from January
Raskin is expected to take the committee chair when the new Congress is seated in January, at which point Infantino could be held in contempt of Congress if he refuses to comply with a subpoena.
A Democratic source told The Athletic in September a Democrat-led committee would use its stronger tools “to get answers, protect sports fans, and root out corruption”.
Raskin’s letter accused FIFA of “outright bribery” in its efforts to win favour with the Trump administration, citing the office FIFA leased in Trump Tower and the FIFA Peace Prize Infantino presented to Trump at the World Cup draw in Washington in December 2025.
Raskin also questioned why the Justice Department dropped its case against Full Play Group and a former Fox executive after a federal jury had convicted them of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies. The White House responded in July through spokesman Davis Ingle, who called Raskin “a stupid person’s idea of a smart person.”
Ticketing and FFE under scrutiny
The letter linked FIFA’s standing with the administration to its World Cup ticketing, which Raskin said involved “illegal price gouging and fraudulent sales tactics”.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport subpoenaed FIFA in May over World Cup ticketing, examining dynamic pricing, seat descriptions and alleged “fake scarcity” for matches at MetLife Stadium.
Committee Democrats have also asked FIFA to explain how the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan was conceived. Infantino proposed selling a 20% stake in the new commercial subsidiary for $4.2bn, with Thrive, the investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, lined up as lead investor.
FIFA abandoned the plan on 1 August after opposition from UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). UEFA has since asked US courts for evidence to support a potential criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland alleging criminal mismanagement, which FIFA has described in court filings as part of a “smear campaign.”
UEFA sent FIFA 42 questions in October covering the FFE plan and Trump’s call to Infantino over Folarin Balogun’s World Cup suspension.
