Which individuals or organizations linked to football have received peace or humanitarian awards from FIFA?

1. FIFA creates a peace prize and places it center stage

FIFA formally announced the “FIFA Peace Prize – Football Unites the World” in November 2025 and said it will be bestowed annually to “individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world in peace,” with the inaugural ceremony scheduled for the World Cup Final Draw on 5 December 2025 ^{[1] [4]}.

2. The first winner: Donald Trump

Multiple major news organizations reported that FIFA presented the inaugural prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., on 5 December 2025; FIFA President Gianni Infantino personally presented the award and praised Trump’s “exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity” ^{[2] [5] [6] [7]}.

3. Why FIFA cited Trump — and what it did not disclose

FIFA framed the prize broadly as honouring actions that “unite people across the world,” and Infantino’s statement singled out efforts to end conflicts and bring people together; FIFA’s public materials and the ceremony announcement, however, do not detail the nomination list, the evaluative criteria, or the internal selection process used to choose the winner ^{[1] [8] [9]}.

4. Immediate reactions and controversy

News outlets and commentators flagged the award as controversial given Infantino’s public support for Trump and scrutiny of FIFA’s past governance problems; reporting noted that the choice intensified scrutiny over a close alignment between the FIFA president and the U.S. president and prompted questions about politicisation of the organisation ^{[2] [10] [11]}.

5. Human Rights Watch and transparency concerns

Human Rights Watch sought information from FIFA about how the prize would be awarded and received no public response before the draw; The Athletic reported the watchdog’s letter and the lack of clarity around criteria, highlighting a transparency gap in how FIFA created and deployed the new accolade ^[3].

6. Media framing: award as diplomatic signal and domestic theater

Coverage emphasized that the prize came amid diplomatic activity by the Trump administration — and that the award follows Trump’s own public quest for recognition like the Nobel Peace Prize — producing media frames that the FIFA prize both rewarded specific diplomatic acts (e.g., cited ceasefire work) and served broader image-building for the recipient and for FIFA’s leadership ^{[7] [12] [9]}.

7. Alternative viewpoints in reporting

Some sources and FIFA’s statements framed the prize as an effort to recognise peace-building and to leverage football’s global reach for unity; others treated it as a politicized move or even a vanity gesture tied to Infantino’s close relationship with Trump and to FIFA’s desire to avoid jeopardizing World Cup logistics in the United States ^{[1] [2] [10]}.

8. What football-linked individuals or organisations have received peace/humanitarian awards from FIFA — what sources show

Available sources document only this newly created FIFA Peace Prize and its inaugural recipient, Donald Trump, as a FIFA peace/humanitarian award linked to football; sources provided do not list prior FIFA peace or humanitarian awards bestowed on other football figures or organisations under that specific FIFA Peace Prize program because the prize was just introduced in 2025 ^{[1] [7] [5]}. If you mean broader, non‑FIFA humanitarian awards given to footballers or clubs (for example prizes by UEFA, national federations, or third‑party humanitarian prizes that happen to go to football figures), available sources do not enumerate them in this dataset (not found in current reporting).

9. Limitations and next steps for verification

FIFA’s own release and reporting confirm the award’s creation and the 5 December 2025 presentation, but FIFA has not published a public list of nominees, selection committee minutes, or objective criteria beyond general language about “peace” and “unity,” which constrains independent verification ^{[1] [3]}. For a fuller list of football-linked recipients of humanitarian prizes across organisations, consult FIFA’s archives, UEFA and national associations’ social-responsibility pages, and award bodies’ past honoree lists; those specific records are not included in the sources provided here (not found in current reporting).

Sources cited: FIFA announcement ^{[1] [4]}, reports of the award to Donald Trump ^{[2] [11] [12] [5] [6] [7] [13] [10]}, critical coverage and transparency questions ^{[3] [2]}.