Fifa officials express growing embarrassment after awarding peace prize to Donald Trump

There is a growing sense of embarrassment among mid-level and senior officials within Fifa over the awarding of its peace prize to Donald Trump, which was handed to the US president at the World Cup draw in Washington DC in December. Fifa president Gianni Infantino told Trump: “We want to see hope, we want to see unity, we want to see a future.

This is what we want to see from a leader and you definitely deserve the first Fifa Peace Prize.” Since then, the US has launched airstrikes across Venezuela and captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flown them to the US, where he was put in jail.

Maduro appeared in court on 5 January, pleading not guilty to drugs, weapons and “narco-terrorism” charges. Trump has also threatened to invade Greenland because he said the US needs the territory “very badly”. There was unease within Fifa at the time of Trump receiving the award, with the governing body not disclosing any details of the selection process; that discomfort has, according to one senior Fifa source, shifted to “deep embarrassment”.

Multiple officials have expressed their unease at the way it was handled. A highly placed official, who declined to go on the record, warned staging the World Cup in the United States will be a “very delicate” and “difficult” period in the months leading up to the tournament as well as during the competition.

Key Topics

Sports, Fifa, World Cup, Fifa Peace Prize, Donald Trump, Gianni Infantino