Gianni Infantino's decision to award Donald Trump with FIFA's inaugural 'Peace Prize' has sparked a furious complaint from a human rights group.
Last Friday, US president Trump joined FIFA president Infantino on stage at the 2026 World Cup draw held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
During which, Trump was awarded FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize in recognition of his 'extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity throughout the world'.
Trump claimed it was 'one of the great honors of my life' however, shortly afterwards, the decision been met with major backlash by fans on social media.
Now, according to The Athletic, human rights group and non-profit organization FairSquare have launched a complaint over FIFA's decision to give him the award.
The outlet claim that the report was submitted to FIFA's Ethics Committee on Monday and alleges 'repeated breaches' of the organization's duty of political neutrality.
US president Donald Trump, 79, received FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize onstage last Friday
The Commander-in-Chief was presented with an official certificate and trophy by Infantino
The inaugural Peace Prize award pictured on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington
The complaint, spread over an eight-page letter, alleges that Infantino has 'committed four clear breaches' of the policies in article 15 of FIFA's Code of Ethics.
The first alleged breach relates to Infantino's public lobbying for Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier in 2025.
A day before the winner of the award was announced, back in October, Infantino said on Instagram: 'President Donald J. Trump definitely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his decisive actions'.
FairSquare allege that Infantino's comments 'constitutes a clear personal endorsement of President Trump's intervention in a contentious political situation.'
Their complaint also alleges than another breach took place during the World Cup draw and claimed that Infantino's 'personal endorsement of Trump' breached policy.
The organization noted that Infantino said to Trump on stage: 'You definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize for your action for what you have obtained in your way but you obtained it in an incredible way and you can always count, Mr President, on my support.'
FairSquare, according to The Athletic, argued: 'This constitutes a clear personal endorsement of President Trump's foreign policy in numerous countries and ongoing armed conflicts. Statements of this nature breach the duty of neutrality outlined in article 15 of the FIFA Code of Ethics'.
Another alleged breach, according to the organization, occurred on November 5th, when Infantino defended Trump and his performance as US president.
Trump draped his own medal around his neck after winning the FIFA Peace Prize
Infantino has seized every opportunity to ingratiate himself with Trump throughout the year
FairSquare's allegations claim that Infantino labelled Trump as a 'really close friend' before delivering a passionate speech about the president.
'When you are in such a great democracy as the United States of America, you should first of all respect the results of the election, right?
'In the end, he was elected based on the programme, based on what he said. He is just implementing what he said he would do, so I think we should all support what he's doing because I think it's looking pretty good,' he said.
FairSquare allege that Infantino took a 'very clear political position' and 'expressed his personal approval of Trump's political agenda'.
The final of the alleged breaches relates to an Instagram video posted by Infantino back in January, in which he thanked Trump for inviting him Washington.
FairSquare argues that Infantino betrayed his neutrality by mirroring the Make America Great Again (MAGA) language often used by Trump in political campaigning.
The organization's complaint reportedly ended by requesting an investigation into the 'FIFA processes that led to the creation' of the Peace Prize award.
The report, according to The Athletic, read: 'The award of a prize of this nature to a sitting political leader is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality'.
The Daily Mail has reached out to FIFA for comment.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose countries are co-hosting the tournament, joined Trump and Infantino onstage
Trump attended the star-studded event with his wife and First Lady Melania (pictured right)
When collecting his award on Friday, Trump said: 'This is truly one of the great honors of my life,' Trump said, after he placed his own medal around his neck.
'Beyond awards, we have saved millions and millions of lives. The Congo is an example. India, Pakistan, so many different wars we are able to end, in some cases, a little bit before they started.
'It's such an honor to be with Gianni. I have known Gianni for so long; he has done such an incredible job. He has set a new record on ticket sales.
'It's an awfully nice tribute to you and the game of football, or as we call it soccer. The numbers are beyond what even Gianni thought was possible.
'I want to thank my family, my great First Lady, Melania. And I think you are going to have an event to maybe the likes of which the world has ever seen. The enthusiasm, I have never seen anything like it.
'We have had a tremendous working relationship with Canada; we have our Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico, and we have worked closely with those two countries. The coordination, friendship, and relationship have been outstanding. I want to thank you all very much.
'I want to thank everybody. The world is a safer place now. The United States a year ago was not doing well, but now we are the hottest country in the world, and we are going to keep it that way.'
