FIFA President Infantino – on ending the ban on Russia, awarding the peace prize to Trump, the boycott of the 2026 World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he supports Russia’s recovery and called for an end to the country’s four-year exclusion from international tournaments.

FIFA excluded Russia from competition when the ongoing invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Russia was excluded from that year’s World Cup in Qatar and was not part of the qualifiers for the 2026 edition to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

Infantino said in an interview that the ban has been fruitless Air sports ​which took place this weekend in London during the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. His first wish is that the Russian youth teams are restored.

«We definitely have to (look at Russia’s recovery) because this ban has achieved nothing. It has only created more frustration and hatred,» Infantino said. “It would help if girls and boys from Russia could play football matches in other parts of Europe.”

UEFA’s executive committee, whose next quarterly meeting takes place on February 11 in Brussels, Belgium, has the authority to reinstate Russia. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has insisted that the war in Ukraine must end for that to happen.

The European governing body briefly planned to allow Russia to participate in qualifying for the under-17 continental championship in 2023, citing a desire not to punish children for government actions. UEFA relented and upheld the ban after a dozen national federations threatened to boycott matches with Russia.

At senior level, Russia has limited itself to participating in friendly matches, most recently against Chile and Peru in November. Russia hosted and reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup during Infantino’s first term as FIFA president.

Infantino told Air sports that its opposition to football bans is unconditional and that FIFA “must enshrine in our statutes that we should never actually ban any country from playing football because of the actions of their political leaders.”

Defends awarding Trump a peace prize

The FIFA chief also defended his controversial decision to award a peace prize to US President Donald Trump as he rejected calls for a World Cup boycott.

Infantino was widely criticized for crediting Trump on behalf of his governing body during the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington DC in December.

The move gained even more attention after US forces seized Venezuelan President Miguel Maduro, while Trump sparked more controversy with his desire to acquire Greenland for national security reasons.

However, Infantino insisted that Trump deserved FIFA’s inaugural peace prize, tellingly Sky News on Monday: “Objectively speaking, he deserves it.

“Whatever we can do to promote peace in the world, we should do it, and for this reason we have thought for some time that we should do something to reward people who do something.”

Infantino rejected suggestions that there could be a boycott of this year’s World Cup because of the policies the Trump administration has adopted at home and abroad.

There has been unrest in several US cities, most notably Minneapolis, over the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement. But Infantino said there have never been calls for companies to boycott a country, “so why football?”

The 55-year-old added: “In our divided world, in our aggressive world, we need places where people can come and meet around the passion (for football).”

(With input from AFP)

Published on February 3, 2026