FIFA president Gianni Infantino received an award from the Atlantic Council in New York City on Wednesday night and used his acceptance speech to appeal for peace across conflict zones, claiming he has been reduced to tears by scenes in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.
The Atlantic Council describes itself as a "nonpartisan organization that galvanizes U.S. global leadership and engagement in partnership with allies and partners." Its annual honorees are people, they say, who make unique contributions toward improving the world. On Wednesday night, the chosen honorees were French president Emmanuel Macron, the Argentine president Javier Milei and Infantino, who the Atlantic Council claimed has "redefined the role of athletics in international affairs."
In a post on Instagram, the organization also said that Infantino had championed global development, inclusion and unity through sports. Infantino was introduced for his award by Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion and former NFL quarterback. He has recently become part of the ownership at English second division club Birmingham City and also attended FIFA's Club World Cup final in July at MetLife Stadium.
Infantino has long divided opinion within the world of football, amid power battles with leagues and confederations over incursions into the club game and adaptations to major tournaments, including the World Cup. Soccer's governing body has also come under major scrutiny during his nine years as president over its commitment to workers rights and human rights while holding men's World Cups in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, while he has also come under personal scrutiny over the closeness of his relationship with the current U.S. administration headed by President Donald Trump. Next summer's World Cup will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. FIFA recently decided to open a New York City HQ in Trump Tower.
Infantino's FIFA, along with the European confederation UEFA, is also under pressure from campaigners and bodies such as the United Nations. This week, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights put out a press release calling for the suspension of Israel from international football amid what it described as an "unfolding genocide" in Gaza, an allegation which Israel denies.
The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has called for the suspension of Israel at the past two FIFA congresses and FIFA have opened two separate investigations, but the Palestinians have not been happy with the speed of FIFA's inquiries. Susan Shalabi, the vice-president of the PFA, told the FIFA Congress in Paraguay in May: "Our issue sadly again is stuck in a highly politicized bureaucratic holding pattern."
FIFA's general secretary, Mattias Grafstrom, told reporters afterwards: "Our independent committees are working with the topic. The work is ongoing and will continue until they come to a conclusion."
On Wednesday night in Manhattan, Infantino took the opportunity to address a room that included global political figures and business leaders, with individuals such as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent present, as well as BlackRock chairman Larry Fink.
Infantino said: "I'm a simple football person. In this room tonight, we have many more leaders in politics and the economy. Many world leaders are here, many leaders in business. That's why my plea and the plea coming from everyone who loves football all over the world is actually very simple.
"We all know that we live sadly in a divided world, in an aggressive world, in a complicated world. Like all of you, I suffer when I see children suffer. I cry when I see mothers crying. Whether it's in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Sudan, in Libya, anywhere in the world, there are 80 countries where there are conflicts. We all suffer when we see what is happening. But like many of you as well, I believe that human beings are fundamentally good and not fundamentally bad. And we have to believe in us and dear leaders, we believe in you.
"We need peace in the world. How can we get it? Well, if I knew it, I would have done it long time ago, I don't know. But the secret, probably like for anything else in life, is to believe in it and to work for it. So let's just work more. Let's bring people together more. Let's just create occasions for people to get to meet each other and know each other a little bit more. We want you to succeed. We want the world to succeed. We want to unite the world and we want peace."
On a night Infantino cited the pain of scenes in Ukraine, it offered a reminder that FIFA suspended Russia's national teams from all competitions since February 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of the country. FIFA had previously enjoyed positive relations with Russia, which hosted the 2018 World Cup, retaining its host status after the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and incursions into the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014.
In an interview with the Atlantic Council afterwards, Infantino said that next summer's tournament will bring peace, harmony and joy. That is despite the build-up to the event facing question marks over FIFA's approach to ticket pricing and a turbulent political atmosphere within the U.S.
He said: "Football unites the world. That is what we want to believe and what we try to do. FIFA has more members than the United Nations. We want to build bridges; we want to bring everyone on board. Our world is divided these days and it needs something to keep it together and maybe we can help the world by giving this little excuse just to come together and be happy for a moment. It is a moment of unity; a moment of coming together; of happiness; of joy.
"The FIFA World Cup in North America will be massive; fantastic; beautiful; 48 countries competing for the first time; seven million watching in the stadiums; everything in peace; harmony and joy. We need this. We need players; fans and coaches from all over the world to come together and realize what we want is just to be happy together."