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According to The Athletic, an official complaint was submitted to FIFA's Ethics Committee alleging «repeated breaches» of FIFA's duty of political neutrality by president Gianni Infantino. The complaint, filed by the advocacy group FairSquare, focuses on Infantino's public championing of President Trump, including his appearance onstage to award Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during the World Cup draw in Washington. FairSquare also asks the Ethics Committee to investigate the circumstances behind the creation of the prize and the internal process that led to Trump being selected as its first recipient, noting that neither the FIFA Council nor the vice-presidents were consulted before the prize was announced.
The FairSquare complaint details four alleged breaches by Infantino of FIFA's duty of neutrality, as set out in article 15 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, all tied to the FIFA president's public championing of President Trump. It also asks the Ethics Committee to «investigate the circumstances surrounding the decision to introduce and award a FIFA Peace Prize and their conformity with FIFA's procedural rules.» Trump received the Peace Prize in the middle of the FIFA World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., where Infantino presented the U.S. president with a large trophy, a medal that Trump proudly put on, and a certificate.
Four specific examples
The FairSquare complaint identifies four specific examples that, in its view, amount to breaches of FIFA's duty of political neutrality by Gianni Infantino. First, it points to Infantino's public lobbying for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, including a message posted on Instagram in which he wrote that «President Donald J. Trump definitely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his decisive actions». Second, it cites remarks made on 5 November at the America Business Forum in Miami, where Infantino described Trump as «a really close friend» and said that people should support what Trump was doing because «it's looking pretty good». Third, the complaint refers to a FIFA video shown during the World Cup draw in Washington that presented Trump as having ended multiple conflicts around the world before Infantino awarded him the FIFA Peace Prize on stage. Finally, it highlights a short video published on 20 January 2025, in which Infantino thanks Trump for inviting him to a pre-inauguration rally and concludes by saying: «Together we will make not only America great again but also the entire world».
The complaint also raises questions about how the FIFA Peace Prize itself was created and approved inside the organisation. FairSquare cites previous reporting by The Athletic that neither the FIFA Council nor the FIFA vice-presidents were consulted on the prize, or on any selection criteria, before it was announced on 5 December and awarded to Trump at the World Cup draw in Washington. The submission points to FIFA's own statutes, which state in article 34 that it is the Council that defines FIFA's mission, strategic direction, policies and values, including «all related matters» at global level, and argues that a peace prize of this nature should therefore have been decided at Council level. Human Rights Watch had already written to Infantino asking for information on the process and criteria used, describing the award as having «no nominees, no criteria, no judges and no process», and saying it had received no response from FIFA by the deadline it set.
Four or five times
Trump's fixation on the Nobel Peace Prize is well documented and stretches over several years, with repeated public complaints that he has not received it and frequent claims that he deserves it. At rallies and in interviews, he has argued that his role in mediating conflicts around the world should already have earned him the award, saying he should have won it «four or five times» for various deals, including those he claims to have helped broker in central Africa and South Asia. He has also complained that others received credit instead of him, notably grumbling that Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after a peace deal that Trump insisted he had effectively «saved», telling supporters he asked himself whether he had «something to do with it». In more recent comments, Trump has said that the Nobel Committee will «never» give him the prize despite his view that he deserves it, while sympathetic politicians and officials have publicly called for him to be honoured, and media coverage routinely notes that he has «craved» the award and presents himself as a global peacemaker across conflicts from Israel and Iran to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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