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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGrowing sense of embarrassment at Fifa over Donald Trump peace prize
There is a growing sense of embarrassment among mid-level and senior officials within Fifa over the awarding of its peace prize to Donald Trump. The US president was handed the award at the World Cup draw in Washington DC in December with the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, telling Trump: We want to see hope, we want to see unity, we want to see a future. This is what we want to see from a leader and you definitely deserve the first Fifa Peace Prize.
Since then, the US has launched airstrikes across Venezuela and captured the countrys president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flown them to the US, where he was put in jail. Maduro appeared in court on 5 January, pleading not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco‑terrorism charges. Trump has also threatened to invade Greenland because he said the US needs the territory very badly.
There was unease within Fifa at the time of Trump receiving the award with the governing body not disclosing any details of the selection process. Now, though, that has shifted to deep embarrassment, according to one senior Fifa source. Multiple officials have expressed their unease about the way it was handled.
A highly placed official, who declined to go on the record, admitted that staging the World Cup in the US is going to be a very delicate and difficult period, in the months leading up to the tournament as well as during the competition itself.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/18/embarrassment-fifa-donald-trump-peace-prize
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And here I thought Fifa was incapable of embarrassment.
Trump truly is extraordinary.
hatrack
(64,332 posts)Bread and Circuses
(1,635 posts)Ocelot II
(129,355 posts)kimbutgar
(26,916 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 18, 2026, 06:52 PM - Edit history (1)
By the time it occurs things will be a lot worst and players from other countries might refuse to play here. And dont get me started me on the Olympics upcoming disaster.
Sequoia
(12,726 posts)And the always wretched Bolaro blaring over the loudspeaker during March of the Nations.
dem4decades
(13,748 posts)Brilliant
PuraVidaDreamin
(4,478 posts)Most people say.
3catwoman3
(28,679 posts)I doubt that there was any selection process at all. I think Infantino created this bogus award with only Trump in mind.
truddy777
(83 posts)FIFA handing out a peace prize while refusing to explain the selection process says more about FIFA than about Trump. When an organization with a long history of scandals talks about embarrassment, it feels a bit hollow. Giving symbolic awards at political moments always backfires because actions get scrutinized instead of slogans. This just adds another layer of credibility damage ahead of a World Cup that already raises enough questions.
tanyev
(48,722 posts)Trump: Gianni, if you want World Cup games to happen in the U.S. I need a peace prize.
Infantino: On it, sir!
moonscape
(5,644 posts)Do we give it to him:
1. In the morning
2. Early afternoon
3. Late Afternoon
4. Early evening primetime
Cha
(317,203 posts)Peace Prize to Traitor of the USA.. REALLY.
Mahalo Coventina
GopherGal
(2,805 posts)Trump is so foul and despicable as two shame even the shameless FIFA.
malaise
(293,245 posts)World Cup
purr-rat beauty
(1,012 posts)What do you expect?
Bristlecone
(11,021 posts)The created this award out of whole cloth for Trump specifically. Talk about bullshit crocodile tears.