Trump ticket disclosure adds to FIFA Peace Prize scrutiny
Donald Trump’s disclosure of US$15,000 in FIFA Club World Cup final tickets received from Gianni Infantino has added to scrutiny of their relationship amid calls for an ethics investigation into the FIFA president’s Peace Prize decision.
US President Donald Trump received ten tickets worth US$15,000 from FIFA president Gianni Infantino for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final, according to Trump’s latest financial disclosure.The gift provides a new financial record of the relationship between the two leaders as FIFA faces questions over Infantino’s decision to award Trump the organisation’s inaugural Peace Prize.Trump attended the Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in July 2025.He joined Infantino during the trophy presentation and remained on the stage as Chelsea’s players celebrated their victory, giving the US president a prominent role in FIFA’s flagship club event.The ten tickets were included in a financial disclosure detailing sports and entertainment access provided to Trump during 2025.Trump reported receiving nearly US$120,000 in tickets to major events including the Super Bowl, Ryder Cup, NBA Finals and US Open.The FIFA allocation is comparatively small in financial terms but carries greater governance significance because of Infantino’s position and his increasingly close public relationship with Trump.FIFA awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington on December 5, 2025.The award was presented personally by Infantino, who has repeatedly praised Trump and described him as a close friend.The selection process has since become the subject of ethics complaints and calls for greater transparency over how FIFA created the prize and selected its first recipient.Around 50 members of the European Parliament have called for an urgent investigation into whether the decision breached FIFA’s obligations on political neutrality.The group backed an earlier complaint submitted by human rights organisation FairSquare, which questioned Infantino’s conduct and the governance process behind the award.The Norwegian Football Federation has also supported calls for FIFA’s ethics committee to examine the matter.Critics have raised concerns that the prize was created and awarded without sufficient consultation with FIFA’s governing bodies or the publication of clear nomination and selection criteria.The ticket disclosure does not establish wrongdoing, and FIFA’s hospitality arrangements regularly include political leaders, commercial partners and other guests at major tournaments.It nevertheless adds a disclosed benefit from Infantino to Trump to an increasingly visible pattern of access, public praise and shared appearances around FIFA events.Their relationship has strategic importance for FIFA as the United States hosts the majority of matches at the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.The Trump administration has influence over security, visas, border access and federal coordination, all of which are operationally important to the delivery of the expanded 48-team tournament.Infantino has also said Trump will take part in the trophy presentation at the World Cup final on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium, the same venue that staged the Club World Cup final.That role will give Trump another prominent position at FIFA’s most commercially valuable event and further associate the governing body’s leadership with the US president.FIFA has sought close cooperation with the White House during tournament preparations, but the relationship has created a growing reputational challenge around the governing body’s political neutrality.The disclosure strengthens calls for FIFA to explain the governance surrounding its dealings with Trump, particularly the creation and presentation of the Peace Prize.Any formal ethics review would place Infantino’s conduct, FIFA’s decision-making process and the organisation’s rules on political neutrality under direct examination during the World Cup.