FIFA World Cup draw: As Donald Trump-Gianni Infantino bromance deepens, the US president may finally get a peace prize

US president Donald Trump will be at the FIFA World Cup draw on Friday; the awarding of a new Fifa Peace Prize will also take place, with Trump expected to be the recipient; Trump and Infantino have developed a strong friendship over the years

The Nobel Academy denied him, much to his wrath. Infantino, his good friend for years, sympathises with him. The US co-hosts the biggest World Cup ever next year. The full portrait emerges. (AP Photo)

Like a hymn, Village People’s YMCA will thrum in the concert hall of the Kennedy Centre where the FIFA World Cup draw will take place on Friday evening. Once looked upon as a gay anthem, it’s the ubiquitous soundtrack of the American president Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ rallies. The blind Italian vocalist Andrea Bocelli would render one of his operatic arias; Robbie Williams would croon an old love-sick melody; Heidi Klum would rev up the glam quotient. An audience of two hundred million will hold their breath to learn their team’s fate and fortunes.

Amidst all these, one man could walk away with the prize and glory. FIFA would award a peace prize, “to recognise the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of peace.” These are the words of FIFA supremo Giovanni Infantino. Connect the all-too-evident dots. The apostle of world peace could be Trump.

The Nobel Academy denied him, much to his wrath. Infantino, his good friend for years, sympathises with him. The US co-hosts the biggest World Cup ever next year. The full portrait emerges. That of Trump triumphantly holding the peace prize trophy aloft, his fists clenched to punch the Nobel jury that denied him the honour he thinks he deserves. Among the audience would be those from the countries he has slapped with inexorable tax duties, those that he wants to outlaw from America, and those that he believes ‘eat pet dogs’. Such verbal slip-ups do not diminish his love for mankind and universal peace that only FIFA’s eyes could find.

Unlikely friendship

The moment — Infantino handing out the trophy to Trump — could be the pinnacle of a warm and unlikely friendship. They grew up in different worlds. Infantino was the son of a railway worker and housekeeper and grew up as an immigrant in the Swiss town of Brig; Trump’s father was a prosperous construction businessman in New York. Trump inherited his father’s empire soon after he completed his graduation in commerce from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Infantino had to build a career in law before nurturing his administration dreams.

At the stroke of the century, when Trump slowly spread his empire from real estate to endorsing beauty pageants and briefly explored entering the 2000 presidential race with the Reform Party, Infantino resigned from his job at the International Centre for Sports Studies and joined UEFA as a lawyer. In four years, he became the director of Legal and Club licensing. His ascent, accentuated by his knack of striking friendships with powerful men and driven by the ruthless ambition to make FIFA richer (the body has doubled its annual revenue to approximately $10 billion since the 2022 World Cup), was swift. In 2009, he became UEFA’s general secretary. Seven years later, the year Trump assumed the White House for the first time, he became the FIFA boss. The union of a strongman president and a strongman-pandering sports administrator was inevitable.

There is a popular story about how Infantino won over Trump’s trust. In Infantino’s first visit to the White House, he gifted Trump, among other souvenirs, a pack of yellow and red cards. He told him: “The yellow card is a warning, and when you want to kick someone out, show the red.” Trump picked up the red card and jokingly waved at the press. He has a way with words, and in several languages. He speaks French, German, Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.

Two years later, Trump was facing impeachment when he arrived at a business summit that also featured Infantino. Addressing a bunch of business leaders, he praised Trump: “He says actually what many think, but more importantly, he does what he says. This brings the American Dream to reality. Now, the American Dream is something that not only Americans need to have. The American Dream is something that we all need to have.” Moved, Trump replied: “You’ve been a great friend, and it’s an honour.”

Story continues below this ad

The friendship blossomed over golf rounds and vacations. Last month, Trump called him “one of the greatest men of sport”. But the friendship was not without mutual benefits. FIFA appointed Trump’s daughter Ivanka to the board of a $100 million educational project. The FIDA has an office in the Trump Tower. Trump calls him “pal Johny.”

They don’t belong to the same generation; Trump is 79 and Infantino is 55. Their natures are the opposite. Trump is blunt and forthright. Infantino is tactful and diplomatic. A statement he made to journalists during the Qatar World Cup captures the essence of Infantino. “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker,” he would say. But they feed on each other. Infantino needs powerful men and Trump loves men who pamper his powerfulness. And on Friday night, the whole world will learn their team’s fate and fortune, and one man may walk away with the prize and glory — a peace prize he has been craving for.