Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.

The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have launched an investigation into dealings between President Donald Trump and the leaders of FIFA on the heels of the World Cup, accusing the leaders of conducting a “bribery and corruption scheme” to enrich themselves at the expense of soccer fans around the world.

On Monday, the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), demanded that FIFA turn over any documents or records with relation to its dealings with Trump, including visitor logs for FIFA’s office in New York’s Trump Tower, which the organization has leased for a year. Raskin also demanded that President Gianni Infantino sit for an interview with members of Congress.

In a letter to Infantino, Raskin excoriated the Trump administration’s sudden dismissal of the Justice Department’s indictments in its wide-ranging corruption probe of FIFA earlier this year, which involved over $200 million in “bribes and kickbacks” across 20 countries for decades.

The lawmaker also criticized FIFA for charging customers outrageous prices. Some tickets for the final listed by FIFA, he noted, surged to a price of $33,000 at one point. Meanwhile, ticket buyers reported FIFA moving them into worse seats after their tickets were purchased. FIFA’s revenue for this World Cup surged to a record $15 billion, double the $7.5 billion made during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

He said that FIFA has engaged in “outright bribery” related to this years’ and previous World Cups. This........

© Truthout