Port-au-Prince, Friday, December 5, 2025 — US President Donald Trump was named Friday as the very first recipient of FIFA’s new Peace Prize, during the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony in Washington.
The American president received a medal from FIFA President Gianni Infantino after a video highlighting his mediation efforts on the international stage was screened.
“This is exactly the type of leadership we’re looking for,” Infantino stated, citing several peace agreements concluded under Donald Trump’s aegis.
For his part, the president responded: “This is one of the greatest honors of my life.”
A Fiercely Contested Distinction
This announcement had been dreaded by numerous human rights organizations, unions, and supporter groups, which had urged FIFA to match words with deeds on fundamental rights. These actors have been denouncing the lack of transparency surrounding this prize for several weeks.
In a statement published on December 3, 2025, Human Rights Watch notably emphasized: “The process for awarding the FIFA Peace Prize lacks transparency. We wrote to FIFA requesting the list of nominees, the composition of the jury, the selection criteria, and the award process. We received no response.”
Minky Worden, sports director at Human Rights Watch, added: “This so-called prize is being awarded in a context of violent immigrant detentions, National Guard deployments in American cities, and the abandonment of FIFA’s own anti-racism and anti-discrimination campaigns.”
Several coalitions, including Sport & Rights Alliance, Dignity 2026, the ACLU, AFL-CIO, Amnesty International, the Independent Supporters Council, the NAACP, Athlete Ally, and Reporters Without Borders, are calling on FIFA to guarantee a World Cup that respects the rights of supporters, players, workers, journalists, and local communities.
“It’s the workers, athletes, supporters, and communities who make the World Cup possible,” notes Andrea Florence, director of Sport & Rights Alliance.
“The 2026 World Cup is the first to integrate human rights criteria from the bidding process. But the deteriorating human rights situation in the United States puts these commitments at risk.”
According to Jamil Dakwar, human rights director at the ACLU, “The Trump administration is conducting a systematic and aggressive campaign against human rights, targeting, detaining, and disappearing immigrants in communities across the United States—including through National Guard deployments in World Cup host cities.”
Calls for Concrete Action
Human Rights Watch, along with Sport & Rights Alliance, Dignity 2026, and their member organizations, are calling on FIFA and the organizing committees to:
Reinstate anti-discrimination messaging; commit to ensuring effective protection against racial profiling, arbitrary detention, and unlawful immigration enforcement during the tournament; work closely with local partners to finalize human rights action plans; take concrete measures to guarantee respect for the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; announce and implement a comprehensive child protection policy; guarantee significant positive impacts for local communities through the 2026 World Cup; and take concrete measures to ensure the 2026 World Cup does not lead to abuses against vulnerable populations, including incarceration of homeless individuals.
Cathy Feingold, international director of AFL-CIO, summarizes: “The 2026 World Cup is an opportunity to demonstrate that major sporting events can be organized without exploiting workers.”
