Did FIFA break its own rules in awarding Trump a peace prize? Rights group files complaint against Gianni Infantino

Gianni Infantino's decision to award US President Donald Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize has landed the football body chief in trouble, with a human rights group lodging a complaint to FIFA's ethics alleging a breach of neutrality rules.

The complaint was lodged by human rights group FairSquare, which called on the FIFA ethics committee to investigate Infantino for what it alleged amounted to "four clear breaches" of FIFA's neutrality rules.

"The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in, and of itself, a clear breach of FIFA's duty of neutrality," the letter stated, as reported by The Athletic.

Specifically, FairSquare alleged breaches of clauses under Article 15 of FIFA's Code of Ethics: "The complaint primarily relates to four public statements made by Mr Infantino and requests that an investigation be conducted into these statements, as well as the process for establishing the FIFA Peace Prize and the decision to award it to President Trump."

The first of those was made on 9 October 2025, when Infantino praised Trump personally for his role in bringing about the ceasefire in Gaza, saying, "President Donald J Trump definitely deserves the Nobel prize for his decisive actions."

The second breach was Infantino's decision to award Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in Washington DC mere days back.

"A FIFA video screened at the event constituted a clear personal endorsement of President Trump's foreign policy in numerous countries and ongoing armed conflicts," Fair Square alleged.

The human rights group also said that on 5 November 2025, Infantino described Trump as a "really close friend", and even called for support for the US President's agenda.

"In the end, he was elected based on the programme, on what he said. He is implementing what he said he would do, so I think we should all support what he's doing because I think it's looking pretty good," Infantino said, as per FairSquare.

The final breach alleged by FairSquare goes back to 20 January this year, when the FIFA chief allegedly published a short video, saying, "Together we will not only make America great again but also the entire world."

Citing these instances, FairSquare called on the FIFA ethics committee to investigation Infantino's public statements in favour of Trump, his role in the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize and his decision to award the same to the US President.

Titled "Duty of neutrality", Article 15 details the code of conduct of people associated with FIFA in their dealings with governments and politicians.

"In dealings with government institutions, national and international organisations, associations and groupings, persons bound by this Code shall, in addition to observing the basic rules of article 14, remain politically neutral, in accordance with the principles and objectives of FIFA, the

confederations, associations, leagues and clubs, and generally act in a manner compatible with their function and integrity."

Article 15 also stipulates that any person bound by FIFA's codes who violate the article "shall be sanctioned with an appropriate fine of at least CHF 10,000".

Persons found violating the article can also be banned by FIFA from taking part in "any football-related activity" for a maximum of two years.