FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing an official investigation by the governing body’s Ethics Committee over allegations that he violated rules on political neutrality by publicly endorsing U.S. President Donald Trump, capped by presenting him with a “Peace Prize.”
The formal ethics complaint was lodged by the human rights advocacy group FairSquare, which asserts that Infantino committed “four clear breaches” of FIFA’s neutrality guidelines following a series of public declarations and an award ceremony.
The core of the controversy stems from Infantino’s decision to award Mr. Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony held in Washington, D.C., last week. During the lavish presentation, Infantino hailed the U.S. President, stating: “This is what we want from a leader. You can always count, Mr. President, on my support.”
FairSquare’s complaint argues that the prize and the statement constitute “a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality” and challenge the FIFA President’s authority to unilaterally dictate the organization’s policies and values.
The ethics probe also references Infantino’s previous actions, including an October Instagram post declaring that Trump “definitely deserves” the Nobel Peace Prize, and a November interview where he urged public backing for Trump’s policies, stating: “We should all support what [Trump] is doing [in the US] because I think it’s looking pretty good.”
Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare’s programme director, emphasized that the issue extends beyond personal politics: “This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino’s support for President Donald Trump’s political agenda. More broadly, this is about how FIFA’s governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation’s rules.”
