"This is your prize; this is your peace prize." Gianni Infantino said those words in December 2025 as he handed Donald Trump a trophy and medal for the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. Nine months later, FIFA's own governing board is trying to figure out how that ever happened.
On October 15, FIFA's Football Social Responsibility Committee was formally tasked with investigating the origins of the award — who created it, who approved it, and whether it should be scrapped entirely or reformed. Their findings are due in December.
FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt didn't mince words about the scope of the review: "They will consider, first of all, how the Peace Prize came about, whether it should have come about, whether it should have been awarded in the way that it was, who made that decision and whether or not it should be taken out or whether it should be reformed."
Infantino's fingerprints are all over this
All roads lead back to the FIFA president. Infantino first floated the prize concept at a public summit in Miami in November 2025 — hours before Trump spoke at the same event. He then personally awarded Trump the prize a month later, citing the U.S. president's role in achieving a Gaza ceasefire and conflict resolution efforts.
The timing was always uncomfortable. What made it untenable was what came next: Trump launched the Iran war in February, a conflict now eight months old. Infantino defended the award anyway, insisting it didn't compromise FIFA's political neutrality. That argument found few buyers inside the organization.
The World Cup this summer — held in North America — didn't help Infantino's standing either. His FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which would have privatized commercial operations including broadcast rights, sponsorships, and ticketing through an investment group connected to Josh Kushner (brother of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law), detonated inside the governing body. Infantino was forced to withdraw the proposal and apologize for pursuing it without consultation.
A presidency unraveling in real time
UEFA and numerous other organizations have called for Infantino to resign. He has refused and says he intends to run for re-election next year. Whether FIFA's member associations will let that happen is a different question entirely.
The Peace Prize investigation is, in practical terms, a referendum on Infantino's judgment. The committee's December report won't just determine the fate of a trophy — it will signal how much authority the FIFA president actually has left.
He announced a peace prize. He awarded it to a leader who started a war two months later. And he did all of it, apparently, without telling the people who run the organization alongside him.
