The investigation was agreed at a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich on October 15, after members pressed Gianni Infantino over the award he had presented to the US president at the 2026 World Cup draw. Some wanted the prize abolished outright, others called for it to be stripped of politics.
The committee’s remit was set out by FIFA vice-president and English FA chair Debbie Hewitt.
“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,” she said.
Infantino told the council the committee would “analyze it, provide a proposal, and also, there, a decision will be taken at the next FIFA Council meeting.”
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Ethics complaint still open
Infantino also remains the subject of a parallel ethics complaint over the award. UK-based human rights group FairSquare filed its complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee in December 2025, alleging the president had breached Article 15 of FIFA’s code of ethics on political neutrality.
The complaint cited several episodes, including Infantino’s social-media lobbying for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and his public description of the president as a “really close friend” at a Miami business forum.
“This is about how FIFA’s absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation’s rules,” FairSquare’s Nicholas McGeehan told Al Jazeera.
The Norwegian Football Federation separately brought the matter before FIFA’s ethics committee, and 50 members of the European Parliament called for a formal investigation. FIFA has said it does not comment on potential cases.
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From Washington draw to Zurich inquiry
The Peace Prize was unveiled in November 2025 and handed over less than a month later. At the final draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington on December 5, 2025, Infantino presented Trump with the inaugural trophy on stage.
“This is your prize; this is your peace prize,” the FIFA president told him.
FIFA justified the award by citing Trump’s role in a Gaza ceasefire and his wider work on other conflicts. It came weeks after Trump had been passed over for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
Infantino opened the Zurich meeting with an apology for his handling of a separate controversy, the private investor plan for World Cup commercial rights with Joshua Kushner. Critics said he had not produced documents on that row or substantive answers on the peace prize decision. German football leader Bernd Neuendorf said afterwards that “no satisfactory answers were provided.”
The Football Social Responsibility Committee is expected to put its recommendation to the FIFA Council in time for the Doha meeting on December 16.
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