STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The president of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), Lise Klaveness, has urged FIFA to abolish its peace prize to prevent the organization from becoming entangled in political matters. Speaking at an online press briefing on Monday, Klaveness suggested that such awards should instead be handled by the Nobel Institute in Oslo.
Controversy Over FIFA Peace Prize
World soccer's governing body, led by President Gianni Infantino, faced criticism in December when it awarded its inaugural peace prize to U.S. President Donald Trump during the draw for the 2026 World Cup. Many observers viewed the prize as a consolation for Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The United States will co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
“We (the NFF) want to see it (the FIFA peace prize) abolished. We don’t think it’s part of FIFA’s mandate to give such a prize, we think we have a Nobel Institute that does that job independently already,” Klaveness stated.
Political Risks and Governance Concerns
Klaveness emphasized the importance of maintaining a distance between football organizations and state leaders. “We think it’s important for football federations, confederations and also FIFA to try to avoid situations where this arm’s-length distance to state leaders is challenged, and these prizes will typically be very political if you don’t have real good instruments and experience to make them independent, with juries and criteria et cetera,” she explained.
The 45-year-old lawyer argued that managing such awards requires full-time expertise and resources. “That is full-time work, it’s so sensitive, I think from a resource angle, from a mandate angle, but most importantly from a governance angle I think it should be avoided also in the future,” she added.
Call for Investigation
Klaveness revealed that the NFF board plans to write a letter supporting calls for an investigation into the awarding of the prize. The non-profit organization FairSquare has alleged that Infantino and FIFA may have violated their own ethical guidelines regarding political impartiality.
“There should be checks and balances on these issues and this complaint from FairSquare should be treated with a transparent timeline, and that the reasoning and the conclusion should be transparent,” Klaveness said.
