A group of lawmakers from the European Parliament had demanded an investigation against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over allegations of bias in international football.

Following the World Cup, the human rights advocacy organization FairSquare submitted a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate the FIFA president.

However, the organization has rejected the appeal.

In a statement, the IOC stated that the allegations against Infantino are primarily related to FIFA's governance, relations with governments, and decisions regarding the implementation of football rules.

These matters do not fall under the purview of the IOC's Code of Ethics. In other words, the Olympic Committee does not have the jurisdiction to investigate the activities of the independent organization FIFA or any of its officials.

The IOC's statement comes at a time when the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) is considering filing a formal complaint with FIFA's Ethics Committee against the decision to suspend Folarin Balogun's automatic one-match ban.

NFF President Lise Klaveness told the BBC that her organization has expressed "deep concern" over the incident. A decision on whether to file a formal complaint will be made at the next board meeting.

During the Round of 16 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, US striker Folarin Balogun received a red card following a 2-0 victory. Consequently, he was supposed to be suspended for the next match against Belgium.

However, at the intervention of US President Donald Trump, the suspension was stayed for 12 months, drawing widespread criticism of the FIFA president at the time.

Centering on the violation of FIFA's policies due to Trump's intervention, the human rights advocacy organization FairSquare had filed a complaint with the IOC.

The organization claimed that by openly showing support for Trump, Infantino violated the principle of political neutrality outlined in the Olympic Charter. Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020.

Rule 2 of the Olympic Charter states that IOC members shall not accept instructions from any government, organization, or other party that could affect their independent decision-making or voting.