FIFA president Gianni Infantino was in attendance on Thursday, Feb. 19 as President Donald Trump convened the first meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington, D.C.
The Board of Peace was established to bring an end to the war in Gaza, as international delegates discuss the next steps in a fragile ceasefire that was approved in October.
Representatives from more than 45 countries were expected to attend, though several key U.S. allies including the UK, Germany and France turned down invitations. There was also no Palestinian representation, though there were Israeli delegates in attendance.
Infantino and Trump enjoy a close relationship, with the FIFA president making a number of appearances at the White House over the past year. Infantino was also among several world leaders in attendance in October as Trump and others marked a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Ahead of the meeting, some attendees were given MAGA-style red hats with ‘U.S.A.’ in large white letters. The side was emblazoned with ’45-47,’ referring to Trump’s two presidencies. Infantino briefly donned the hat.
According to Section 5 of FIFA’s Code of Ethics, persons bound by the code must remain politically neutral.
USA TODAY Sports has reached out to FIFA for comment.
Infantino has previously come under fire for a perceived failure to remain politically neutral. In December, FairSquare, a London-based human rights nonprofit, filed an ethics complaint with FIFA over Infantino’s alleged breaches of the rules.
“This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino’s support for President Donald Trump’s political agenda. More broadly, this is about how FIFA’s absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organization’s rules and act in ways that are both dangerous and directly contrary to the interests of the world’s most popular sport.” said Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare’s program director.
Infantino has advocated for Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize and in November said that ‘I think we should all support what [Trump is] doing,’ at the American Business Forum in Miami.
At the World Cup draw in December, Infantino award Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.
Facing criticism over the creation of the award and his decision to award it to Trump, the FIFA president said last month that ‘objectively, [Trump] deserves it.’
On Thursday, Trump again thanked Infantino for the award while re-airing his grievance over not winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
‘I want to thank Gianni and FIFA for all the wonderful things they did and are doing,’ Trump said.
‘They gave me their first peace prize. They gave me a peace prize. I think they saw that I got screwed by Norway and they said let’s give him a peace prize.’