According to L'Équipe, 50 members of the European Parliament have written to FIFA demanding an investigation into the circumstances under which Infantino awarded the FIFA Peace Prize to Trump.

The FIFA Peace Prize has once again sparked controversy, this time even involving the European Parliament. A letter dated Monday and addressed to the FIFA Ethics Committee urges the committee to conduct an investigation "as soon as possible and in good faith," and was signed by 50 MEPs from 13 different countries.

The human rights organization FairSquare has been calling for an investigation into the award process since last December. The MEPs, led by Irish MEP Barry Andrews, Dutch MEP Lara Wolters, and Danish MEP Nils Fuglsang, believe that their request "provides an opportunity for FIFA to demonstrate its commitment to political neutrality, transparency, and accountability," provided that the conditions under which Infantino awarded the FIFA Peace Prize to Trump are thoroughly investigated.

FairSquare had already accused the FIFA president in December of breaching the neutrality obligations set out in Article 15 of the Code of Ethics, with the aim of favoring the US president. If this violation is confirmed, he could face "a fine of at least 10,000 Swiss francs, and a ban from any football-related activities for up to two years." This has further intensified the controversy surrounding the matter. FairSquare welcomed the joint letter from the 50 MEPs, calling it "the most significant intervention by European politicians regarding governance abuses and rule violations at the highest level of world football since the European Parliament called for the resignation of Infantino's predecessor, Blatter, in 2015." The organization's main hope is that the Ethics Committee will review the awarding of this prize, as FIFA has never clarified its criteria and access methods.

FairSquare believes that Infantino's actions threaten "the integrity of football and FIFA's own reputation." In addition to these 50 MEPs, the Norwegian Football Federation continues to support the initiative. The Norwegian Football Federation is the only one of the 211 FIFA member associations to have joined it. The association has also filed a complaint with the FIFA Ethics Committee, but the committee has yet to launch an investigation. FIFA has also not responded to these complaints or to the controversy surrounding its Peace Prize.

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