U.S. President Donald Trump received the first FIFA Peace Award at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup draw ceremony held in Washington, D.C. on the 6th. FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised him, saying, “He has what we want in a leader,” and President Trump praised himself as he hung the medal around his neck, saying, “The world has become a safer place.” It deserves to be remembered as a representative example of how sports and political power deceive the world through word play.
There are several media outlets that criticized President Trump’s sudden and secret decision to win the FIFA Peace Prize. Among these, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun gave great coverage to the issue, saying, “Political elements are being brought into the World Cup” through the 7th day’s front page top and second page commentary articles. The article said, “President Trump has a prominent relationship with sports. He creates an image of ‘strength’ and does not hide his admiration for muscular male athletes,” which seems to be an accurate point.
After taking office, President Trump rode the Cadillac One, a private limousine, at the Daytona 500 track, a representative automobile racing competition in the United States, and witnessed the Super Bowl, the final match of the National Football League (NFL) championship, as a sitting president for the first time. It has been decided to hold a martial arts competition in front of the White House next June to commemorate the 250th anniversary of independence, and it is all about using sports as a means of gaining mass popularity.
President Trump often enforces or imposes his will even in the field of sports. After taking office, he issued an executive order banning athletes who transitioned to female from participating in women’s sports events, and pressured the organizing committee to hold ‘The Open’ at the Turnberry Golf Course in Scotland, which he owns. Recently, ahead of the decision on who will be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, he intervened in the vote, saying, “The reason Roger Clemons (of the drug scandal), who is considered one of the best pitchers of all time, was not inducted into the Hall of Fame is because of rumors and ridicule.”
On the 10th, the British human rights group ‘Fair Square’ called for an investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee, saying that FIFA President Infantino, who led the presentation of the Peace Prize, violated the internal code calling for political neutrality. However, President Trump, who holds absolute power, and President Infantino, who represents FIFA’s commercialism, just pass through the spider’s web of regulations and the glare of those around them ‘like a wasp’. This is evidenced by the bitter side of winning the FIFA Peace Prize, which is a high-stakes competition.
Kim Chang-geum, senior sports team reporter kimck@hani.co.kr
