Gianni Infantino’s glowing praise of Donald Trump, capped with handing him FIFA’s first-ever peace prize, has sparked a formal complaint accusing football’s governing body of violating its neutrality rules.
Rights group FairSquare said Tuesday it submitted an ethics complaint arguing that FIFA’s behaviour was “against the common interests of the global football community”. The trigger was Infantino presenting Trump with the inaugural award during the 2026 World Cup draw on December 6, hosted in Washington DC with the US, Canada and Mexico set to co-host the tournament.
FairSquare says giving a peace prize to a sitting political leader “is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality,” adding that if Infantino acted alone “this should be considered an egregious abuse of power.”
The group also highlighted Infantino’s earlier social-media lobbying for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Human Rights Watch weighed in too, arguing Trump’s record “certainly does not display exceptional actions for peace and unity”.
Disciplinary options for FIFA’s ethics committee include warnings, fines, compliance training or even bans, though it’s unclear whether the complaint will be taken up. FIFA declined to comment, and Infantino has not responded publicly.
Trump dominated the World Cup draw stage, receiving a gold medal, trophy and certificate.
“This is your prize; this is your peace prize,” Infantino told him, as cameras rolled.
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