Fifa peace prize

Infantino selects junta ‘crony’ to chair award

- Daniel Boffey

It was the timing that set off the alarm bells. With Donald Trump brooding over missing out on the Nobel peace prize, and shortly before Gianni Infantino, the president of football’s international governing body, Fifa, was due to meet the US president in Miami, an announcement was made.

In a press release and a post on his personal Instagram account last month, Infantino said Fifa would launch its own peace prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”.

Who could possibly be in the running when the winner is announced today at the glittery World Cup draw in Washington DC for next year’s tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico?

Infantino had already been accused of a breach of Fifa’s neutrality rules during an unconventional appearance next to his “friend” Trump at a Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

“I think we should all support what he’s doing because it is looking pretty good,” Infantino said.

The subsequent lack of information about how the inaugural award-winner would be chosen was a cause of further disquiet for those concerned this could just be a sop to Trump.

Those misgivings may now deepen. The Guardian has learned that the Fifa prize is seen internally as its version of the president’s award at Uefa, the European football body, suggesting Infantino’s say will be decisive.

It is also understood that a new “social responsibility” committee within Fifa has been given the central role in devising the process through which winners will be chosen - but it will not sit before this year’s recipient is announced.

The background of the chair of the committee tasked with coming up with a proposal on the process may not convince everyone that he will speak truth to power either.