FIFA wanted the 2026 World Cup to be about unity, but instead, it has created another political circus.
The controversy centers around FIFA president Gianni Infantino awarding President Donald Trump the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize during the World Cup draw. Now, Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness is calling for the prize to be abolished, saying FIFA has stepped outside its lane and risked politicizing the sport.
She is right to question it. FIFA is supposed to run football, not hand out global peace awards like it is the Nobel committee. The second FIFA created a “Peace Prize,” it opened itself up to backlash, accusations of favoritism and questions about whether Infantino’s relationship with Trump is influencing the sport ahead of a World Cup hosted partly in the United States.
The optics are brutal. The World Cup is supposed to bring countries together, but this award has instead divided people before the tournament even starts. Critics have argued the decision conflicts with FIFA’s own political neutrality and human rights standards. Norway’s federation is even backing a complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee over the matter.
Trump’s supporters will say he deserves credit for foreign policy wins and peace efforts. The White House has already defended the award, saying no one is more deserving and dismissing critics as having “Trump derangement syndrome.”
But that is exactly the problem. The second this became a Trump debate, FIFA lost control of the story. Instead of talking about the 48-team World Cup, the biggest tournament ever, people are talking about politics, ethics complaints and Infantino’s judgment.
FIFA has dealt with corruption scandals, human rights criticism and accusations of chasing money over morals for years. Creating a peace prize and handing it to one of the most polarizing figures in the world was never going to calm anything down.
Klaveness is saying what a lot of people in football are probably thinking: abolish the prize before it becomes another FIFA embarrassment.
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