The FIFA Peace Prize: What is This All About?

Image - Fauzan Saari

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On Wednesday 5th November, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced the ‘FIFA Peace Prize - Football Unites the World.’ The idea of the prize is to reward peace on behalf of “All football-loving people from all around the world”. The recipients of the prize will, “through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world in peace”.

This all sounds very familiar, an award for rewarding peace activism by a famous international institution. You would not be mistaken to think this sounds like the Nobel Peace Prize, handed out every year on December 10th in Oslo, Norway. There may be a reason for the sudden announcement of the FIFA Peace Prize, that being US President, Donald Trump. Trump has been very vocal about his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour he will not win this year, as well as his close relationship with FIFA President Infantino.

The two presidents have been developing a close relationship since the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024 and this relationship has been apparent in the sporting world. The newly revamped format of the FIFA Club World Cup, hosted in the United States in the summer of 2025, included a small cameo from Donald Trump, who was spotted on stage at the trophy presentation after the final and continued to celebrate with the eventual winners Chelsea. Trump even keeps a winners medal in the Oval Office.

Critics of FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, can claim that the FIFA President is focusing more time on building the relationship with his US Counterpart. Earlier this year, a FIFA meeting was postponed for two hours due to Gianni Infantino arriving from a meeting with Trump, leading to multiple delegates walking out in protest. The ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ inaugural award will take place at the 2026 World Cup Draw in New York on the 5th December, just five days before the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Venezuelan activist, María Corina Machado.

Many theories point towards Trump being the first recipient of the ‘FIFA Peace Prize.’ There is compelling evidence to support this theory, Trump has stated his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the FIFA Prize was created by a close friend after the Nobel Peace Prize winner was announced, the presentation is in Donald Trump's home city and is being presented at a ceremony he is already due to attend, therefore it is hard to see any one else who could win the award, especially when combined with the fragile relationship Infantino has with the heads of the other footballing bodies. However, if Trump were to win the award in December, it would be very controversial, especially with the relationship he has with the other World Cup host nations, Mexico and Canada.

The relationship between the United States, Mexico and Canada has been degrading since the election of Trump in 2024. Since he took office, Trump has placed trade sanctions on both of the other co-hosts, threatening to turn Canada into the 51st state of America, and made constant degrading remarks about both Mexico and Mexicans. Internally, Trump has stated on multiple occasions that he would potentially move World Cup Games from cities he deems unsafe to cities he believes to be safe, something that Infantino has said he will allow. There are varying ideas about what Trump means by this; however, the most common idea is that Trump will move matches from Democrat controlled cities to Republican ones, mainly for political purposes rather than safety concerns.

There are concerns regarding the safety of some of the fans and teams who have qualified for the World Cup as well. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order banning certain countries' citizens from entering the US due to public safety concerns. Among those countries was Haiti, which has just qualified for its first-ever World Cup. This has raised potential issues with fans attending the tournament. If qualified teams cannot enter and fans cannot attend, then the World Cup is more of a political show where only cities, teams and fans chosen by the US President can take part. If Trump were to win the FIFA Peace Prize in December, this would show that FIFA is willing and compliant in the World Cup being curated by America and not a global tournament for everyone.

Overall, the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize, the announcement that the first awards ceremony will take place in New York during the World Cup Draw and the relationship between Trump and Infantino all point towards Trump winning the prize. The creation of the prize looks more like Infantino trying to win favour with Trump than for any reason regarding peace. The award seems to be a political creation, aiming to keep the major host nation happy. There are 16 stadiums in use for the World Cup, with 11 in the US and two in both Canada and Mexico and the US hosting the majority of the games.

If FIFA were to award the prize to Trump, they would be suggesting that threatening to invade your neighbours, selling weapons to other countries and detaining and deporting people en masse all contribute to peace. This all seems as if Infantino is trying to play politics over protecting football, by rewarding high-ranking politicians to boost himself under the guise of world peace and sport. For Trump, this is the perfect opportunity to steal the spotlight again, to take away from the Nobel Peace Prize and to focus on his own supposed victories, allowing him to be seen as a winner on the international stage. Overall, the award seems to be hypocritical, self-indulgent and political, three things any respectable peace prize should not be. It is not 100% certain that Trump will win, but other options remain slim and the relationship between Trump and Infantino, along with the timing of the awards announcement, all point towards the inevitable; Trump receiving a peace prize.