Infantino doubles down on FIFA Peace Prize controversy: 'Trump deserves it'

Martin Macdonald

• 3 Feb 2026 04:45 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Gianni Infantino has defended his decision to award FIFA's inaugural 'Peace Prize' to United States president Donald Trump.

At the draw for the 2026 World Cup group stage, Trump was presented with the award personally by Infantino, and the president said:

"Thank you very much, this is one of the great honours of my life. We saved millions and millions of lives.

"It’s such an honour to be with Gianni. I’ve known Gianni for so long, he’s done such an incredible job.

"He’s set new records for ticket sales. It’s an awfully nice tribute to you and the game of football or as we call it, soccer. The numbers are beyond what Gianni even thought was possible.

"I want to thank my family, my great First Lady, Melania.

"You’re going to have an event , the likes of which the world has never seen."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino tells me he gave Donald Trump the first ever FIFA Peace Prize because he 'saved lives'. In an exclusive interview, Infantino praises Trump's role in negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza. Watch the full interview on The World and YouTube tonight. pic.twitter.com/bu9g6xDwGK

— Yalda Hakim (@SkyYaldaHakim) February 2, 2026

Since Trump received the peace prize, he has ordered military action in Venezuela and Nigeria and has also threatened similar action in Greenland, Colombia, Iran and even fellow tournament hosts, Mexico.

On 3rd January, he ordered the kidnapping of Venezula president Nicolas Maduro who was charged with drug trafficking.

There's also the distribution of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents throughout the country which has catalysed incidents of violence on the streets.

Over the last three weeks, two American citizens have been shot and killed by ICE agents - Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Despite all that, Infantino says Trump deserves the award for being "instrumental in resolving conflicts and saving lives and saving thousands of lives."

Infantino praises Trump

When asked about his relationship with Trump by Sky News, the FIFA president responded:

"I’m fortunate to have an excellent relationship with President Trump. I found him, from the outset, very engaging, very motivated to help FIFA and help the game.

"We’ve established this friendship, this relationship. I don’t speak to him every day, now and then.

"Our motto, our slogan, at FIFA, is ‘football unites the world’.

"The fact that we unite everyone, goes hand-in-hand with peace. Anything we can do to help peace in the world we will do it.

"When this whole situation, with Gaza last year, happened. Around 60,000 people died in Gaza and then it stopped.

"We have to support everyone who does something for peace.

He was asked if Trump had been a destabilising force in the world and responded:

"If we speak about the peace prize and ask ‘what is the main responsibility of a leader?’

"I think, for me, it means he must protect first his country and its people.

"If you manage to save lives, to protect your people and other people around the world, well, you deserve respect.

"We gave him the peace prize because he was instrumental in resolving conflicts and saving thousands of lives and to me, nothing is more important than stopping killing."

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