In a move that will be a bitter pill for Sepp Blatter, who once harboured improbable ambitions to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the board behind the award is poised to terminate its relationship with Fifa.
In light of the chaos that has enveloped world football’s governing body since US prosecutors accused Fifa executives of a “World Cup of fraud”, the Norwegian magazine Josimar reported on Monday night that the Nobel Peace Centre had decided to end its involvement in its joint Handshake for Peace initiative.
The director of the Nobel Peace Centre, Bente Erichsen, said it would end its co-operation with Fifa “as soon as the conditions are right for it”.
Blatter had long coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, believing that his work to spread football around the globe made it a realistic goal, and his delusional quest was said by some close to the 79-year-old to be one of the reasons he could not bring himself to stand down as president.
The chairman of the Nobel Peace Centre, Olav Njolstad, said that it continued to believe the Handshake for Peace was a worthwhile project and it would endeavour to hand it over to Fifa and the Norwegian Football Association in a “good and orderly” fashion. A statement from the board for the Nobel Peace Centre read: “The board asks the administration to terminate the cooperation with Fifa as soon as circumstances allow. The board also asks the administration to start a dialogue with the Norwegian Football Association for the Handshake for Peace initiative to continue in the future.”
The idea, which includes players trading handshakes at the World Cup and other Fifa tournaments, was first unveiled at Fifa’s 2012 congress and was officially launched at the Club World Cup in Morocco in 2013.
Fifa agreed to contribute €800,000 to the Nobel Peace Centre and Blatter said “a crucial pillar of Fifa’s mission is to build a better future for all through the power and popularity of football”.
There were regular references to the Handshake for Peace even throughout Fifa’s most recent congress in May, when the organisation was mired in scandal. Blatter was re-elected as president only to promise to stand down four days later.
In São Paulo last year the Nobel Peace Centre and Fifa held a joint press conference before the opening game of the World Cup even as protests at the event’s cost raged outside and Blatter came under renewed pressure over corruption claims.
The move by the Nobel Peace Centre follows Interpol’s decision to suspend its relationship with Fifa, which was worth $20m to the international police liaison service over 10 years.
Fifa said on Monday night it had not received any communications from the Nobel Peace Centre.
