WASHINGTON, DC – Soccer’s governing body has long declared a policy of political neutrality, and players are often fined or suspended by FIFA for displaying political messages.
But on Friday, the association’s president, Gianni Infantino, handed US President Donald Trump the first FIFA Peace Prize, further cementing his support for the Republican leader.
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Critics noted that the award came less than 24 hours after the Trump administration conducted another deadly airstrike in the Caribbean.
Craig Mokhiver, a former United Nations official who campaigned for Israel to be banned from world soccer because of its genocidal war in Gaza, said the award to Mr Trump was “a truly shameful development”.
Infantino has refused to take action against Israel, insisting that football cannot solve “geopolitical” problems.
“Not satisfied with FIFA’s complicity in two years of genocide in Palestine, Infantino and his cronies have invented a new ‘peace prize’ to curry favor with Donald Trump,” Mokhaiber told Al Jazeera.
He added that the award was also aimed at “covering up” President Trump’s “disgraceful record” of support for Israel, deadly attacks on ships in the Caribbean, and “gross human rights violations” within the United States.
Infantino praises Trump
In presenting the award on Friday, Infantino expressed support for President Trump’s international agreements, including the so-called Abraham Accords, which established formal relations between Israel and several Arab countries without resolving the issue of establishing a Palestinian state.
“This is what we want in a leader. A leader who cares about people. We want to live in a safe world, a safe environment. We want to be united. And that’s what we do here today, and that’s what we want to do at the World Cup,” Infantino said when presenting the award.
“Mr. President, you definitely deserve the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize for your actions and what you got your way, but you got it in an incredible way.”
Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, but lost out on it earlier this year.
He said FIFA’s new recognition was one of his “great honours” and reiterated his claim that his presidency had saved millions of lives and ended eight wars.
The US president’s remarks were brief, but he still couldn’t help but downplay the record of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
President Trump said, “A year ago, the United States wasn’t doing very well, but now I have to say that we are the hottest country in the world.”
deviation from past statements
Infantino has previously warned against using football to inflame divisions. “There is no tool more powerful than sport to unite a nation,” he said in 2023. “Now we must protect the autonomy of sport, the political neutrality of sport, and protect the values of sport.”
Two years later, critics say Mr. Infantino created an award celebrating peace and unity and handed it over to a president who days earlier had called people of Somali descent “trash.”
“Giving Donald Trump the Peace Prize is like giving Luis Suarez an award for not biting someone’s ear off,” football journalist Zac Lowy wrote on social media, referring to the Uruguayan forward who has been involved in at least three on-pitch biting incidents throughout his career.
Infantino appears to have a strong bond with Trump as the United States prepares to co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada next year.
The FIFA president is a regular guest at the White House, and in October he attended a ceremony formalizing the ceasefire in Egypt with President Trump.
FIFA had not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Democrats were also among the critics eyeing FIFA’s new award. “Since Mr. Trump was unable to win the Nobel Peace Prize, FIFA created the Nobel Peace Prize in his place,” the organization said in a social media post.
But rights advocates directed more serious criticism, citing the US president’s rights record and foreign policy.
President Trump’s record
Trump has helped broker several peace deals between parties to conflict, most recently between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but has advocated for increased military spending across the West.
President Trump also ordered the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June and continues to supply arms to Israel, despite Israel’s well-documented abuses against Palestinians.
In the Western Hemisphere, the Trump administration also carried out 22 airstrikes against ships it said were carrying drugs, killing at least 86 people. Legal experts have widely condemned the attack as an illegal act of extrajudicial killing.
Additionally, President Trump has amassed military assets near Venezuela, increasing speculation that the United States may go to war with Venezuela to overthrow leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
Domestically, President Trump has stepped up anti-immigrant crackdowns, leading to attempts to detain and deport non-citizens. Some supporters have been targeted with criticism of Israel, a right to free speech protected by the First Amendment.
“US President Donald Trump has just been awarded the newly created FIFA Peace Prize,” Human Rights Watch said on social media platform X.
“But his administration’s appalling human rights record certainly does not demonstrate ‘exceptional action for peace and unity.’
Mohiber, a former U.N. official, said the “vulgar” award to Trump should be rescinded.
“FIFA rules don’t allow you to play on muddy pitches. You certainly shouldn’t play on bloody pitches. But that’s where Infantino is leading FIFA,” he said.
