Norwegian FA calls for FIFA Peace Prize awarded to Trump to be abolished

The President of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), Lise Klaveness, has called for the abolition of the FIFA Peace Prize introduced by the world football governing body ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

She argued that awarding such a prize is the mandate of the Nobel Institute and not FIFA, which is expected to focus on football-related issues.

The Norwegian FA warned that such moves meddle in politics and may not augur well for the association if they continue along the same path.

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“We (the NFF) want to see the FIFA Peace Prize abolished. We don’t think it’s part of FIFA’s mandate to give such a prize. We believe the Nobel Institute already does that job independently. It’s important for football federations, confederations, and FIFA to avoid situations where this arm’s-length distance to state leaders is challenged.

"These prizes will typically be very political if you don’t have strong instruments and experience to make them independent, with juries and criteria, etc.,” Klaveness said during an online press briefing.

She supported calls for an investigation into the prize awarded to United States President Donald Trump, questioning the criteria that made him the winner.

“That is full-time work. It’s so sensitive from a resource angle, from a mandate angle, but most importantly from a governance angle, I think it should be avoided in the future.

“There should be checks and balances on these issues, and this complaint from FairSquare [Probe into Trump's prize] should be treated with a transparent timeline, with the reasoning and conclusion made public,” she added.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has faced criticisms for awarding the inaugural Peace Prize to President Trump without consulting the council to determine the winner.

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