What a disastrous day for world peace this could be! The incomprehensibly prestigious FIFA Peace Prize looks set to be scrapped just a year after Donald Trump was awarded the gong.
It’s fair to say, it’s been quite the first year for the FIFA Peace Prize. Since the inaugural prize was handed out in December last year, its holder has spent the year bombing other countries, kidnapping world leaders and causing global chaos.
Trump was always going to be a tough act to follow in what would no doubt have been a glittering FIFA Peace Prize roll of honour – but now he might hold the prize forever.
According to reports, the prize could be scrapped at the end of the year. This comes after a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich on Thursday where it was decided that the governing body’s football social responsibility committee will assess the merits of the award.
The 22-person committee will determine whether the award should continue, a decision that could include scrapping it altogether.
This would be yet another humiliating blow for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has spent much of the last year sucking up to Trump and bringing FIFA into disrepute (or at least more disrepute than usual).
From the moment the Peace Prize was announced by Infantino, everyone knew it has been created with the sole intention of being gifted to Trump after he missed out on the Nobel Peace Prize.
Infantino had intended for the prize to be handed out yearly to “reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace” and who have “united people across the world”.
FIFA said the award “will be presented to individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world in peace and consequently deserve a special and unique recognition”.
It is possible that the prize will continue, with the committee potentially deciding that it should not be given to politicians.
A decision is expected in time for the next FIFA Council meeting, which will take place in December in Doha, the Athletic reports.
It’s difficult to know how world peace will survive without the FIFA Peace Prize,