FIFA accused of breaching own rules on political neutrality after peace prize to Donald Trump

FIFA, world football's governing body has been urged to investigate president Gianni Infantino for breaking the rules of the organisation by handing out the inaugural FIFA peace prize to US president Donald Trump last week. Infantino presented Trump with the peace prize during the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw ceremony in Washington DC.

The draw ceremony was a star-studded affair with a number of American sporting legends, including Tom Brady and Shaquille O'Neal in attendance. However, what was supposed to be a pure sporting event, was overshadowed by Trump receiving the peace prize from Infantino.

FIFA has been facing the heat from all corners for politicising the event and breaking its own rules regarding political neutrality. In a fresh development, FairSquare, a Human rights group, has written a letter of complaint to FIFA, accusing Infantino of "four clear breaches" of the governing body's neutrality rules. They have demanded an investigation into Infantino by FIFA's ethics committee.

"The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in, and of itself, a clear breach of Fifa's duty of neutrality," stated the letter, as per BBC.

FairSquare also argued that Infantino cannot use his position as the FIFA president to single-handedly dictate the strategic direction or the policies and values of the organisation. It is worth noting that Infantino has previously been accused of favouring Trump, and the FIFA president has also posted on social media in support of the US president.

"The Fifa president does not have the authority to unilaterally dictate the organisation's mission, strategic direction, policies and values," said FairSquare in its letter.

Many believe that Trump receiving the inaugural FIFA peace prize was a political stunt to garner support for the US president in his bid to push for the Nobel Peace Prize. In October this year, Infantino shared a post on Instagram, supporting Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Speaking about their complaint to FIFA, FairSquare programme director, Nicholas McGeehan, said their stand is against more than just Infantino's public support for Trump. McGeehan argued FIFA's current functioning under Infantino is 'absurd' and has allowed the president to twist rules in his favour.

"This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino's support for President Donald Trump's political agenda," said McGeehan.

"More broadly, this is about how Fifa's absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation's rules and act in ways that are both dangerous and directly contrary to the interests of the world's most popular sport," he added.