Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino seem to get along very well.Image: keystone
analysis
Friday evening was actually supposed to be about the World Cup draw. Instead, the head of the world football association curry favor with the American president. And told lies.
Dec 6, 2025, 12:56 p.mDec 6, 2025, 12:56 p.m
Jan Schultz / watson.de
Who doesn’t know the demand, expressed so often especially in the football context, that politics has no place in sport? The two must be strictly separated. FIFA itself has even laid down rules in this regard: If politics interferes in an association’s area of responsibility, it faces harsh penalties.
On Friday evening, FIFA paid little attention to this principle and ingratiated itself with US President Donald Trump in an unprecedented way.
And that’s saying something after the last World Cup finals were held in Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Qatar. As a reminder, a rainbow bandage was still too political in 2022 and was ultimately banned.
FIFA awards new peace prize to Donald Trump
On Friday it wasn’t about a small piece of fabric on the arm, but about a chunky, newly created gold trophy: the FIFA Peace Prize.
Basically, it is a nice idea to honor actions in the spirit of peace. And this has actually been done for over 100 years, and the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded for this.
Gianni Infantino is still of the opinion that the world football association should recognize this with a trophy. That this idea came to him at the tournament in North America and at the beginning of Trump’s second term in office? His good friend who recently vehemently demanded the Nobel Peace Prize for himself in vain? Of course just a coincidence.
“Was an act of cronyism ever so blatant, so public?” asked the German TV commentator Oliver Schmidt (ZDF) at the beginning. When the spectacle was over, he aptly concluded:
“The message of peace is one thing – it is right and important. This open political solidarity on this stage of sport between Infantino and Trump is something else.”
Infantino and the three lies at Trump’s award
In the almost twelve minutes in between, the Swiss FIFA President said a lot. He smeared honey around Trump’s mouth and brushed his stomach. There are far more metaphors on social media for the excessive flattery that Infantino dished out to Trump.
He was completely in line with the US President and took up his content. Which in turn means throwing around half-truths, perceived truths, did-I-got-that-from-a-neighbor’s-girlfriend truths or even outright lies. On Friday, three passages in particular stood out.
Infantino read from a certificate that Trump received the award “In recognition of his extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world”receive.
Fans have to worry about entry to the World Cup
Regardless of how many wars the US President has actually ended or how significant his influence was, this sentence raises two questions in particular. If Trump is so concerned about peace, why is he sending the National Guard to attack his own citizens in peaceful cities? How does he represent unity when he divides people so much that his supporters storm the Capitol because of him?
Especially since the latter can also be specifically transferred to football: The blanket entry bans are to be extended to 30 nations, including at least two World Cup participants, Iran and Haiti. How is this supposed to unite fans when even delegates from the Iranian association fight in vain for a visa?
During his speech, Infantino further elaborated on what supposedly sets Trump apart: “That’s what we want from a political leader – one who cares about the people.”
With his persistent self-dramatization, the US President has been giving the impression for years that exactly one person is really important to him: himself. But people in general? Maybe just his compatriots? He undermines this claim almost every day with various excesses.
The 79-year-old insults journalists as “ugly” or “piggies”, he calls people from Somalia “trash” and in disgusting AI videos he unloads feces on US citizens. Trump is many things, but he is certainly not a philanthropist.
Fifa no longer represents the entire football world
In his speech, and then again on Instagram, Infantino also claimed in the direction of Trump: “You can always count on my support and the support of the entire football community to promote peace and prosperity around the world.”
Hardly any football fans are likely to oppose peace, but that still doesn’t amount to unconditional support for Trump. This also applies to professionals. Former US national team player Megan Rapinoe, for example, repeatedly clashed publicly with Trump, calling him “sexist,” “narrow-minded” and “racist.”
Many fan groups are likely to have a similar image of the US President and are therefore unlikely to support him. In any case, Infantino’s words contain the fallacy that FIFA represents the entire football world.
That may be the case on paper, but in terms of substance, the world association has been drifting away from the grassroots for years with its corruption scandals, the hunt for ever larger sources of income and the ingratiation of political leaders.
Other players in the sport no longer agree with FIFA’s approach. Joachim Löw rated plans for a further World Cup increase as “completely excessive”. After the introduction of the new Club World Cup, the players’ union FIFPro criticized the excessive burden on professionals.
There is criticism of FIFA at all levels. But Infantino doesn’t care about any of this, he continues on his questionable path. The appearance in Washington was just further proof of this.