Australia star says Trump peace prize 'makes a mockery' of FIFA

Australia midfielder Jackson Irvine said FIFA awarding Donald Trump its inaugural peace prize "makes a mockery" of the organization's mission.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino gave the U.S. president the award at the 2026 World Cup draw in December.

The move was controversial immediately, and has since become more contentious due to Trump's aggressive actions in Venezuela and Iran.

Infantino appears to have been the driving force behind the award's creation. According to The Athletic, FIFA's Council and vice presidents were not "consulted or involved" in the award's creation, as they normally would have been with such an initiative.

In February, Infantino defended the decision to give Trump the award, saying: "objectively, he deserves it." That interview took place before the U.S. and Israel started a military conflict with Iran, a participant in the World Cup this summer.

Irvine and Australia will also take part in the World Cup this summer. The Socceroos were drawn into Group D, where they will face the United States, Turkey and Paraguay.

Speaking to Reuters, the 33-year-old said that Trump's peace prize shows that FIFA is straying from its stated principles.

"As an organization, you would have to say decisions like the one that we saw awarding this peace prize ​makes a mockery of what they're trying to do with the human rights charter and trying to use football as a global driving force for good ​and positive change in the world," Irvine said.

"Decisions like that feel like they just set us back in the perceived market ⁠of what football currently is, especially at the top level where it's becoming so disconnected from society and the grassroots of what the game actually is and means in ​our communities and in the world."

Irvine has represented Australia at two World Cups, and appears set to make the Socceroos roster for this summer's competition.

The United States, Canada and Mexico will serve as co-hosts of the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Australia's Jackson Irvine slams Trump FIFA Peace Prize before World Cup