Fifa could draw US Congress inquiry over ‘smash-and-grab scam’, top Democrat warns

Fifa could face a sweeping US congressional investigation into its expanding financial and political ties to Donald Trump and his family if Democrats reclaim the House of Representatives in November, a senior party figure has warned.Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, accused global football’s governing body of a “smash-and-grab scam of colossal proportions” after it proposed a multibillion-dollar privatization of its commercial operations.Raskin, a Democratic representative of Maryland, would become the judiciary committee’s chair under a Democratic House majority, vowed to make Fifa an early target of scrutiny – and accused the organization of embedding itself in what he described as a pattern of corruption surrounding Trump’s second administration and the Kushner family.“Over the last few weeks, Fifa’s cozy relationship to Donald Trump has been floating to the top of the swamp of quid pro quo corruption in which the Trump Administration is swimming,” Raskin said in a statement to the Guardian. “But now we see where all the bribes, kickbacks and sweetheart deals have been leading.”Raskin’s comments follow plans of the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to pursue a spin-off of the organization’s commercial business into a standalone company, reportedly valued at about $20bn. JPMorgan Chase is leading the fundraising effort, with Thrive Eternal, an investment vehicle linked to the Thrive Capital founder, Joshua Kushner, among the prospective investors. Joshua Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a high-level White House adviser.The proposal has sparked an immediate backlash across world football, and beyond. Uefa, the European football governing body, has warned that “none of us are the owners of football”, and on Thursday voted to boycott the World Cup if Fifa presses ahead.The inquiry also follows a series of similarly scandalous controversies surrounding Fifa’s relationship with the Trump administration. The organization invented its first-ever “peace prize”, which they awarded to Trump in December, weeks after he publicly complained about missing out on the Nobel peace prize. During this summer’s World Cup, Uefa accused Fifa of undermining the tournament’s integrity after officials reversed a red card issued to the US forward Folarin Balogun following a call from Trump to Infantino. Separately, the US Department of Justice dropped the long-running bribery and money-laundering cases tied to the Fifa corruption scandal after prosecutors said they no longer fit the administration’s enforcement priorities.Should Democrats – who lack the legal power to demand that witnesses appear under the current Republican House majority – win control of the chamber in November’s US midterm elections, Raskin would have the authority to compel testimony and documents from Fifa, JPMorgan and entities connected to the Kushner family’s investment vehicles.“Fifa needs to cooperate in good faith now,” he added. “If and when Democrats take the House, this Committee will have the tools we need to get answers, expose corruption, protect sports fans against exorbitant and fraudulent charges and block this attempt to turn world soccer into a global financial shakedown.”The White House has previously dismissed similar allegations as politically motivated. Fifa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The judiciary committee minority under Raskin has already requested records from Fifa, including documents related to gifts provided to Trump, communications with the justice department, and visitor logs for Fifa’s Miami headquarters and its Trump Tower office.“Fifa appears to have struck a several hundred-billion-dollar deal orchestrated by Jared Kushner’s brother and JPMorgan to privatize Fifa’s business operations so private equity, hedge funds, autocrats, kleptocrats and large investors can come to own and control the world’s most beautiful game,” Raskin said.“The United States is set to host the Women’s World Cup in 2031, and we have a responsibility to ensure Fifa will not again bring its own brand of corrupt pay-to-play politics and exploitation onto our soil,” he added.