Trump could hold Fifa’s Peace Prize forever as Infantino’s award faces scrap

Donald Trump could be left as the first and only winner of the Fifa Peace Prize, with a review of the controversial award set to be held later this year. Fifa’s Football Social Responsibility Committee is due to provide an “assessment of the Fifa Peace Prize” and a decision on its future will be made in December. Fifa president Gianni Infantino awarded Trump with the inaugural Peace Prize during the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington DC last December. Donald Trump was awarded the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize last year, but the award may not return (Getty) The award was suddenly announced last November, after Trump was overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize he had publicly coveted. Infantino was grilled by members of the Fifa Council during a meeting in Zurich this week, in their first assembly since his failed World Cup sell-off plan. But the FA chair Debbie Hewitt told reporters that she was still seeking answers from Infantino on a number of controversies to engulf the Fifa president. Infantino’s critics believe they are still to receive proper explanations for Infantino’s involvement in the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, Folarin Balogun ’s overturned suspension at the World Cup, and the Fifa Peace Prize. Fifa has strict rules on political neutrality and Infantino was accused of breaching those rules when he said Trump “definitely deserved” to win award. The announcement of the Fifa Peace Prize last year declared that the award would “reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world”. Infantino has faced calls to resign since the FFE plan was scrapped, but he is standing for re-election next March after apologising to members of the Fifa Council in Zurich on Thursday. A lengthy statement from Fifa after the meeting confirmed that Infantino had apologised “for the mistakes made in relation to the withdrawn Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal” and called for unity, while reiterating that “football is for everyone, everywhere”. The statement added that “Fifa’s Football Social Responsibility Committee was tasked with an assessment of the Fifa Peace Prize with a decision to be taken at the next Council meeting in December 2026”. Fifa also said a “review of Fifa’s disciplinary procedures will be undertaken by Fifa’s Legal Committee” after Balogun’s suspension at the World Cup was overturned, following a call made by Trump to Infantino.