Fifty members of the European Parliament have in turn called on FIFA to investigate Gianni Infantino’s awarding of the Peace Prize to Donald Trump, backing a request made in December by human rights organization FairSquare.
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“The letter represents the most significant intervention by European politicians to tackle mismanagement and rule-breaking at the top of world football since the European Parliament called on Infantino’s predecessor, Sepp Blatter, to resign in 2015,” FairSquare wrote on Friday.
In a letter dated Monday, 50 elected officials from 13 European countries, mostly Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens, “urge FIFA’s ethics committee to carry out with the utmost speed and sincerity” the investigation requested by the British non-governmental organization for nearly seven months.
“While the eyes of the world are on FIFA this summer,” with the 2026 World Cup in full swing, the request “represents an opportunity for FIFA to demonstrate its commitment to political neutrality, transparency and accountability,” write the signatories, led by Irishman Barry Andrews, Dutchman Lara Walters and Danish Niels Fulzan.
Backed in early June by the Norwegian Football Federation – alone among FIFA’s 211 member countries – FairSquare accuses global soccer boss Gianni Infantino of violating his “duty of neutrality” under Article 15 of the body’s code of ethics in favor of Donald Trump.
The NGO asks, in particular, the ethics commission to “examine the circumstances” of awarding the unprecedented “FIFA Peace Prize” to the American president last November, the criteria and conditions for awarding which were never explained by the football organization.
More broadly, FairSquare highlighted Gianni Infantino’s October call for Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize or his comments in favor of his domestic policies. “By clearly supporting President Trump’s political agenda nationally and internationally,” his position threatens “the integrity and reputation of football and FIFA itself,” the organization deplored.
When asked by AFP on Friday, FIFA did not comment on the European parliamentarians’ letter. In fact, she never responded to FairSquare’s request or to the criticism surrounding the “price of peace.”