One of Donald Trump’s closest sporting allies has created what some are calling football’s version of the Nobel Peace Prize, only weeks after the US president was snubbed for the real thing.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced the creation of the Fifa Peace Prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”. The inaugural award will be presented on 5 December during the World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, a high-profile event that Trump is expected to attend.
In a statement released ahead of his joint appearance with Trump at the America Business Forum in Miami on Wednesday, Infantino said the prize would further the sport’s moral responsibility to unite people.
“In an increasingly unsettled and divided world, it’s fundamental to recognise the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of peace,” Infantino said. “Football stands for peace, and on behalf of the entire global football community, this prize will recognise the enormous efforts of those individuals who unite people, bringing hope for future generations.”
The timing has drawn attention given Trump’s ongoing preoccupation with the Nobel peace prize, which he has aggressively campaigned for and carped about throughout his presidency.
After this year’s award went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, a phalanx of senior White House aides denounced the decision as “politics over peace”. Days later, speaking from Capitol Hill amid a government shutdown, the Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said he would partner with Amir Ohana, the speaker of Israel’s Knesset, to rally parliamentary leaders worldwide to jointly nominate Trump for next year’s prize. “No one has ever deserved that prize more,” Johnson said.
Infantino’s announcement follows a month of peace-themed stagecraft featuring both men. The Fifa chief joined Trump at a 13 October summit in Egypt shortly after a ceasefire came into effect in Gaza, then told investors in Riyadh on 28 October that football should “invest in happiness” and promote unity. Fifa recently added another link to Trump by appointing his daughter Ivanka to the board of a $100m education project part-funded by 2026 World Cup ticket sales.
The “Fifa Peace Prize – Football Unites the World”, as it will formally be known, will be presented annually “on behalf of all football-loving people” from around the globe. Infantino has framed the initiative as part of his wider campaign to position football as a global force for dialogue, arguing that while “the sport cannot solve conflict”, it can “carry a message of peace”.
Still, the optics of the Miami announcement have fueled questions about the blurring of sport and diplomacy. Fifa’s close alignment with Trump’s administration, which has been instrumental in staging the 2026 World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico, continues to test Infantino’s insistence that football exists beyond politics.
Trump had announced in August that the World Cup draw would take place in Washington, with Infantino declaring: “We are uniting the world, Mr President, uniting the world, here in America.”
The 2026 World Cup will run from 11 June to 19 July, featuring a record 104 matches across 16 cities.
