FIFA president Gianni Infantino has issued a statement regarding Donald Trump being awarded the inaugural FIFA peace prize.
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C, FIFA announced the brand new prize, which has been created to honour those who show "exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace”
No specific criteria was mentioned and there were no judges or nominees listing but during the draw in December, Trump was announced as the first ever winner and received the award, as well as a commemorative medal and certificate.
After a video package on Trump, Infantino called the 79-year-old "a leader that cares about the people" and FIFA highlighted his work in getting Congo DR and Rwanda to sign a historic peace treaty and bringing about a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine.
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Trump called receiving the award “truly one of the greatest honours of my life".
However, the decision to do so was widely criticised for a multitude of reasons.
And with way in which Trump administration have brought in brutal immigration policies through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which led to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, many have called for him to be stripped of the award.
However, despite acknowledging a "strong reaction", Infantino has doubled down on the awarding of the gong and believes Trump was deserving of the award as he was key in "resolving conflicts and saving lives".
He also claimed that Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, supported the move.
Speaking to Sky News' The World with Yalda Hakim in a lengthy interview, Infantino said: "So, whatever we can do to help peace in the world, we should be doing it, and for this reason, for some time we were thinking about [whether] we should do something to reward people who do something."
"It's not just Gianni Infantino who said it... [there's] a Nobel Peace Prize winner who said this.
"He was instrumental in resolving conflicts and saving lives and saving thousands of lives."
Infantino and Trump have worked in unison ahead of the upcoming World Cup, where the US are hosting 78 of the 104 games across 11 cities.
The situation in the US has prompted many to float the idea of some nations boycotting the World Cup but Infantino is strongly opposed to that, commenting: "I think, in our divided world, in our aggressive world, we need occasions where people can come, can meet around the passion [for football]".
Topics: Gianni Infantino, FIFA
Josh Lawless