Football fans are not happy with Donald Trump's involvement in the draw for the 2026 World Cup.
Ahead of the return of the World Cup next summer, the draw for the 2026 tournament will take place in the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.
In total, 48 countries will compete in the competition which will be hosted by United States of America, Mexico and Canada next summer.
The draw, which will be conducted by Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand with several other major names involved including US President Trump.
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However, when Trump first arrived on stage ahead of the draw, it was for something that has not gone down well with fans.
On November 5, FIFA suddenly announced that they had created a special new award entitled “FIFA Peace Prize — Football Unites the World”.
The award is set to acknowledge those who have "helped to unite people all over the world in peace and consequently deserve a special and unique recognition," and was presented to Trump ahead of the draw.
But it appears that fans are not happy to see the American President honoured with the award.
Reacting to the moment, one fan wrote on X: "FIFA awarding Donald Trump a "peace prize" is an insult to every supporter of the beautiful game who actually believes in justice and humanity."
Another claimed: "Football is a joke. they made up the "FIFA peace prize" to give it to Donald trump man I can't stop laughing."
While one added: "Absolutely disgusting that FIFA and Gianni Infantino would make the World Cup draw all about Donald Trump to push his agendas. I’m disgusted."
Ahead of him being presented with the award, a pre-recorded video claimed that Trump has helped to “broker ceasefires and promote diplomatic engagements.”
While accepting the award, Trump labelled it as “one of the great honours of my life”, claiming to have “saved millions and millions of lives."
He added:" The Congo is an example, over 10 million people killed and it was heading for another 10 million very quickly. India and Pakistan, so many different wars we were able to end, in some cases just before they started.”
In October, the US President missed out on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, after FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a close ally of Trump's, had said he “definitely deserved” to win.
“This is your prize, this is your peace prize,” Infantino told Trump after the American President accepted the trophy, a medal and certificate.
The decision comes during a week where Trump's administration conducted lethal strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean.
Topics: Donald Trump, FIFA, Football, Football World Cup, FIFA World Cup
Ben McCrum