Donald Trump: US president named inaugural Fifa Peace Prize winner
Held just a mile from the White House, it’s a World Cup draw with a distinctly political flavor.
The glittering ceremony takes place at the Kennedy Center, Washington’s famed arts venue now presided over by US President Donald Trump after reshuffling his board this year.
Alongside stars of football, American sports and show business, Trump was present, as were the leaders of the two other co-organizers – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The procedures, however, appear to have been planned with the American president in mind.
The ’70s band Village People was scheduled to play at the YMCA, a Trump favorite that is regularly heard at his campaign rallies. And, breaking with tradition, the drawing ceremony was marked by the presentation of a new Fifa Peace Prize.
Such gestures will only underline the alliance forged between the US president and FIFA’s Infantino, who announced the prize last month, saying Trump deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, and enthusiastically praising his policies.
Critics say such measures pose a threat to FIFA’s commitment to political neutrality, enshrined in its statutes, and risk turning the draw – and the tournament itself – into propaganda tools.
These critics believe that Infantino and Trump are actually too close for reassurance and that this sends the message that world soccer’s governing body is aligning with the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement and supporting what many see as a divisive administration.
Asked about the new peace prize, while the FIFA Council was not consulted on it, a senior official from the governing body told BBC Sport: “Why can’t it be bigger than the Nobel Peace Prize? Football has enormous global support, so it’s only right that it recognizes the extraordinary efforts made to bring peace every year.”
They pointed out that in 2019 there was no such controversy when Fifa gave the Argentine president an award to honor his contribution to football, and said the organization deserved praise for supporting peace in a divided world.
You can read Dan Roan’s full article here.
