FIFA Kisses Up to Trump With a “Peace Prize”

Outside of what D.C. locals have dubbed the “Vichy” Kennedy Center, people gathered on Friday to protest the 2026 World Cup draw. The activists showed up for many reasons – from the security apparatus the World Cup would bring to North American cities to how ICE may be planning to use the cup as a hunting ground for illegal immigrants – but the unifying disgust was that the boss of FIFA, a sleazy petitioner to the world's oligarchs named Gianni Infantino, was about to do what he loves even more than watching football: kiss Donald Trump's ass. Infantino will use a closely watched draw to present a fictitious award – the FIFA Peace Prize – to a president who commits violence both at home and abroad.

As anti-DC protester Slobodan Milic explained: “We don't want ICE in our cities during the World Cup or any other time. And this peace prize only brands FIFA as the most corrupt organization on the planet.” [Infantino] gets the Kennedy Center for free that would normally cost millions because they flatter the Dear Leader.”

Infantino grovels in support Trump's favorite story: that Trump is the “president of the world.” Of course Trump ordered The Ministry of Defense should change its name to the “Ministry of War”, and yes, PolitiFact marked his claim that “in just seven months I have ended seven endless wars” is called “mostly false.” And although his confused mind is prone to spouting self-aggrandizing lies, he sometimes claims to have committed suicide. six wars, sometimes it is eightsometimes he's wrong claims that no other president but him has ever ended a war—one thing is certain: Trump has seen an alarming increase in government violence.

His administration has organized Drone bombing of suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean has warmed the hearts of war criminals around the world. authorization The International Criminal Court, colluding with some of the most brutal dictators, weaponized Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip and untied a campaign of terror right here at home, with masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents marauding through city after city. It's as if Trump is trying to troll the ghost of Orwell by bringing his “war is peace” slogan to life in horrifying colors.

Despite all this, Infantino presented Trump with the first – and strange-looking – FIFA World Prize, explaining why he was chosen to receive the golden spittoon: “This is what we want in a leader, a leader who cares about people. We want to live in a safe world, in a safe environment. We want to unite. This is what we are doing here today. This is what we are doing at the World Cup, Mr. President, and you definitely deserve the first Prize FIFA world for your action, for what you received in your way, but you got it in an incredible way.”

According to reporting Adam Crafton on New York TimesThe FIFA president's unilateral decision to establish the award stunned the powerful FIFA Council, made up of eight vice-presidents for a total of 28 members, chaired by Infantino. Some members of the FIFA Council learned about the award from a press release. When Human Rights Watch wrote a letter to FIFA in mid-November request basic information about the award—its search criteria, the nomination process, the jury—the group was obstructed.

The award is official dubbed The FIFA World Prize “Football Unites the World” claims to recognize “the enormous efforts of those who bring people together, bringing hope to future generations.” At the ceremony, Infantino exclaimed: “Mr. President, you can always count on my support, on the support of the entire football community or football community, to help you establish peace and ensure the prosperity of peace throughout the world.”

The mutually beneficial friendship between Trump and Infantino is well known. Trump has published Infantino has received more invitations to the White House than any world leader. Trump invited Infantino to attend the Peace Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire that Israel regularly violates. Infantino was the only sports official at the event. He had no political role. It didn't stop him accommodation about it on Instagram—like everything Trump-related—like a besotted teenager.

What Trump gets from this is the opportunity to be the center of attention on the most popular television program on the planet. His vast, insatiable ego craves what even for him would be colossal attention. His waving from the owner's box as Fox News turns down the whistle will be a visual expression of the soft power he can't resist. Infantino gains close proximity to this power, and he is not ashamed to look like a cheap lackey.

At an event in Miami in early November, Infantino praised Trump, who was in attendance, saying, “We should all support what he's doing because I think it looks good.” Thus, Infantino not only demonstrated another example of his shamelessness, but also, probably, broken FIFA rules on political neutrality. According to FIFA Statutes“FIFA remains neutral in matters of politics and religion. Exceptions may be made in relation to matters affected by the statutory purposes of FIFA.” Trump likes his sycophancy to go big, and the ever-luscious Infantino agreed: “I'm really lucky. I have a great relationship with President Trump and I consider him a really close friend.” The FIFA president added: “Of course, he helps a lot with everything we do for the World Cup.”

This all follows Infantino's Instagram campaign to get Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In early October, as the ceasefire proposal between Hamas and Israel moved forward, Infantino published“President Donald Trump certainly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his decisive actions.” He, of course, did not comment on Israel's disregard for the “truce” whenever the mood struck him.

Indeed, the 2026 World Cup – and Infantino's sycophancy – allows Trump, as many protesters have noted, to ramp up his brutal deportation machine.

The intersection of this car with the World Championship is already humming at an alarming rate. This week Human Rights Watch disclosed that during last summer's FIFA Club World Cup final, an asylum seeker attending the match with his two children – ages 14 and 10 – was detained by local police in the parking lot of New Jersey's MetLife Stadium after he tried to use a drone to take a family photo. Instead of issuing him a summons and releasing him so he could attend the game with his children, police notified ICE, who detained the man and ultimately deported him. This is despite the fact that in 2022, the man and his family, who hid their identity and country of origin, fled their home country for fear of political violence. Three months of ICE detention followed. His asylum application was rejected and the man decided not to appeal. “What they do to you there is so psychological,” he said. explained“You want to get out so bad.”

“The intersection of immigration enforcement and major sporting events creates a perfect storm of risk and chaos,” said Minkie Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. Nation. “People who should be able to enjoy a football match with their children are instead faced with the horror of indefinite detention, family separation and deportation.”

A few days before the draw, Human Rights Watch held a press conference at which numerous civil liberties and media rights groups expressed alarm about the United States hosting the 2026 World Cup.

“While FIFA and the host cities are preparing for the games,” he said. Jamil Dakwardirector of the American Civil Liberties Union's human rights program, “the Trump administration is ramping up dangerous policies that put immigrant communities, foreign visitors and residents at risk… FIFA risks becoming an arena for authoritarianism” and “a public relations tool to normalize an increasingly authoritarian U.S. government.”

Jamal WatkinsSenior Vice President of Strategy and Development for the NAACP, raised an important question: “Some people will say, 'What are the chances of families being torn apart and people being extrajudicially detained and disappearing?'

He then responded to his own hypothesis: “Very high. You see it in the news almost every day. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is happening in our communities,” adding: “If FIFA turns a blind eye to this, then they are actually choosing a political side.

As for the protesters, they held signs that read “No cup with ICE” and “Red card for war crimes,” but one slogan in particular deserves repeating: “Football is a world game. ICE is a global disgrace.”