Norway's football federation has filed a formal complaint with FIFA's Ethics Committee over the Peace Prize handed to Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December — and they want the award abolished entirely.
Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian federation, didn't mince words. "It has no legitimacy, and it is clearly outside FIFA's mandate," she told NRK. "It is a serious matter that a political award is introduced without any basis."
She's right to be suspicious. No criteria for the prize were ever officially published. The shortlist, if there ever was one, was apparently a list of one — Trump's name was being circulated as the likely recipient months before Infantino stood next to him, read from a certificate, and handed over what was described as a trophy of hands clawing at a golden globe.
Infantino's political neutrality problem
This isn't Infantino's first brush with accusations of political bias. In February, he was photographed in a red "USA" cap marked "45-47" — Trump campaign merchandise, essentially. The International Olympic Committee cleared him of wrongdoing on that occasion. FIFA's Ethics Committee may take a different view when the complaint comes from a World Cup-participating nation with a seat on UEFA's board.
That's the key detail here. Human rights organisation FairSquare has been pushing this complaint for weeks, but FIFA can afford to dismiss a non-profit. Norway is a different matter. As FairSquare CEO Nick McGeehan put it: "They can dismiss a complaint when it comes from us, but when it comes from an association that also has a board member at UEFA, it's on a whole different level of seriousness."
The legal basis for the complaint is Article 15 of FIFA's Code of Ethics, which requires officials to "remain politically neutral." Breaches can result in a fine of around $12,730 and a ban from football activities for up to two years. Whether the Ethics Committee has the appetite to enforce that against the sitting FIFA president — one who used the ceremony to call Trump's foreign policy "incredible" — is another question entirely.
What it means going forward
Norway are one of 48 nations competing at the 2026 World Cup this summer. That gives Klaveness real leverage, and real scrutiny will follow. Any federation sitting on the fence about this complaint now has to decide whether they're comfortable with a governing body that invented a political prize, handed it to a sitting head of state, and never defined what it was actually for.
Klaveness's position is unambiguous: the prize should never have existed and should not continue. "Absolutely," she said when asked if it should be abolished. One word. No hedging.
The Ethics Committee review, if it proceeds, will force FIFA to answer an uncomfortable question — not just about Trump's award, but about who runs world football and in whose interests.
