FIFA continues Infantino damage limitation with Peace Prize decision

News

Tom Weber | Writer

FIFA is considering scrapping its controversial Peace Prize as president Gianni Infantino continues his attempts at damage limitation in order to win re-election next year.

The 56-year-old caused a huge stir last year when he unilaterally created the Peace Prize without consulting the FIFA Council and handed its inaugural edition to Donald Trump after the US president had been snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Infantino, whose relationship with Trump has faced scrutiny for years, was accused of breaching FIFA's duty of neutrality with the creation of this award, and it has also been questioned whether the football supremo even had the legal powers to do so.

Mere weeks after winning the Peace Prize, meant to "reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace," Trump proceeded to kidnap the president of Venezuela and started a war with Iran, making a mockery of an already divisive award.

Fast forward several months, and Infantino is now in full-on survival mode. Ahead of the World Cup, the FIFA boss announced that he would stand for re-election next year, but he is being challenged by UEFA and former player Ramon Vega.

FIFA could scrap Peace Prize

In the eyes of many, Infantino's position has become untenable in recent months. First, he was involved in one of the biggest scandals in World Cup history when US striker Folarin Balogun had a red card ban suspended after Trump asked him to review the punishment.

Then, Infantino was forced to backtrack on a plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investment firms. The initiative had been driven with the support of Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump's son-in-law.

This sparked the ongoing leadership battle over the FIFA presidency. UEFA and other confederations have called on Infantino to resign, but the 56-year-old has also received widespread backing for his re-election campaign from other governing bodies and national associations.

On Thursday, the FIFA Council convened in Zurich for the first time since Infantino's failed "Forward Enterprise" plan. In a clear effort at damage limitation, the FIFA boss apologised for the scheme.

In a video message published by FIFA, the president said: "First of all, I apologised for the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process related to the FIFA Forward Enterprise project, which then led to many consequences."

Now, The Athletic reports that it was decided to review the Peace Prize at this Council meeting. The governing body's 22-person football social responsibility committee will assess whether to scrap the award or to reform it.

One possibility is to make it impossible for the Peace Prize to be handed out to politicians so as not to breach FIFA's duty of neutrality. The evaluation process is ongoing, and no decision was made on Thursday.

The committee is expected to communicate its verdict at the next Council meeting in December. FIFA president Debbie Hewitt explained: "There’s a decision taken to look at the Peace Prize and to take that through the social committee.

"That was another issue that was raised: whether there should have been one, how the decision was taken to award it, and whether there should be another one. And those questions will be answered through the social committee."