President Trump has groused about not winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but he could have the inside track to secure a new and similarly named honor that will be handed out next month by international soccer’s governing body, FIFA.
The association said on Wednesday that it would bestow the award, officially called FIFA Peace Prize – Football Unites the World, next month in Washington. It will be bestowed during the draw for next year’s World Cup at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 5, which Mr. Trump — who has built an unusually close relationship with FIFA and its leader, Gianni Infantino — said he planned to attend.
The award is meant to “reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world,” FIFA said in a statement.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The announcement of FIFA’s new prize came just a month after Mr. Trump fell short in his bid for the Nobel Prize, which he and his supporters have frequently suggested he deserves, particularly for his part in securing a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. Steven Cheung, the White House’s director of communications, said that the Nobel Prize committee had “proved they place politics over peace” after the award was given to a Venezuelan politician.
Mr. Infantino, who has previously bestowed various baubles and tributes on Mr. Trump, raised eyebrows when he was invited by the White House to Mr. Trump’s visit to Egypt after the Gaza cease-fire deal took effect. The two men have grown increasingly close, with Mr. Infantino acting as support for Mr. Trump on other trips, including a summit with Asian leaders in Malaysia last week.
Mr. Infantino has also been a frequent visitor to the White House. During one trip, he gave Mr. Trump one of just three official replicas of the trophy for the men’s World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico next year.
It was during that visit, in August, that Mr. Trump announced that the tournament draw — during which qualified teams find out their playing schedule for the group stage of the tournament — would happen in Washington. It was an abrupt change of course: FIFA had spent months planning on staging the draw in Las Vegas.
Mr. Infantino has called his close relationship with Mr. Trump “absolutely crucial” to FIFA’s World Cup plans. It has stretched beyond soccer and dates back to landmark moments of Mr. Trump’s first term, including the signing of the Abraham Accord that established diplomatic ties between Israel and multiple Arab nations, which Mr. Infantino attended. He also attended Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January.
But Mr. Infantino’s proximity to the president has also raised questions about whether FIFA is adhering to its own rules on political neutrality. FIFA has on several occasions issued penalties, including suspensions, to member soccer federations over perceived government influence in their affairs.
Tariq Panja is a global sports correspondent, focusing on stories where money, geopolitics and crime intersect with the sports world.
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