Infantino, Trump and the Pursuit for Peace: A FIFA-Style Approach
'VARIOUS IDEOLOGIES … DIFFERENT APPROACHES …'
Following María Corina Machado was awarded the latest Nobel Peace Prize for her "dedicated efforts supporting civil liberties", Donald Trump reacted displaying the sort of generous reaction one might predict. After consistently run a push of self-aggrandizement to make certain he was the recipient, the president promptly claimed responsibility for the Venezuelan political figure's success, listed his own self-announced and often questionable achievements in the domain of global peacemaking and attacked the credibility of the committee who made the decision not to present the medal, cash prize and certificate to him.
While safety issues mean it remains to be seen if the newly crowned award recipient will come forward from hiding to collect her award in person at the Scandinavian presentation in December, a certain obsequious Fifa president looks intent on taking her thunder anyway. Indeed, Gianni Infantino has chosen to present a peace prize of his personal invention in front of a global TV audience of hundreds of millions international football fans the previous week in the US city.
An individual who has for years advocated the significance of preserving political matters out of soccer, especially when they are the kind of ideological stances he deems awkward or just disapproves of, the FIFA leader utilized his position at the US economic conference in Miami to advocate his position about the ability of soccer to connect people of diverse ethnicities and creed, especially those who have extra significant financial resources knocking around to acquire flexibly valued Global Soccer Tournament passes.
"In an increasingly unstable and fragmented international society, it's crucial to acknowledge the outstanding effort of people who strive earnestly to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of harmony", he announced. "Football stands for harmony and representing the entire football community, the FIFA Harmony Award – Soccer Connects Globally will recognize the enormous work of such persons who connect communities, bringing confidence for coming years."
Yet which individual could he indicate? While the FIFA president was prudent not to give any clues concerning the identity of the first honor's selected honoree, he proceeded to move into a probably distinct and obsequious recognition to his existing Close Associate (Or For The Immediate Future), the American leader. His statements certainly had the desired effect. Globally, the most skeptical among us were joined in asserting they knew precisely who would be winning the Artificial Harmony Award, with various people even advancing to make completely unfounded allegations that the legally adjudicated and sports rule-breaking individual under consideration might even have pressured the FIFA head to invent the award merely to make up for the leader's sense of grievance at not obtaining the genuine honor.
As believable a circumstance as it appears, Football Daily begs to differ, mainly due to the fact that in the past few months the increasingly preposterous Fifa boss has burrowed his way to such a degree into the president's favor that it's very likely this latest idea was in fact his own idea.
And while it's reasonable to suppose it remains outside the president's restricted imagination to present the ultimate surprise by presenting Fifa's first (and perhaps final) ever PPP to Greta Thunberg, Volodymyr Zelenskyy or the person of Atalanta's coaching staff who stepped between the footballer and the manager to prevent an unedifying important competition bench disagreement, we can at least hope the English defender and his Chelsea teammates are invited along to Washington dressed in gear to execute a response appropriation of Trump's presentation ceremony.
That particular golden debatable award, or whatever other comparably tasteful trinket the FIFA president chooses to present the US leader for his services to international unity and cooperation, would more than make up for the championship award he notoriously palmed and pocketed during the Club World Cup final award event.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
"A person who worked extensively with rock stars advised me that the period that they become celebrity is the period they remain for their entire existence. I considered: 'That fails to bode well for me.' I found myself subject to media attention at young adulthood and placed before the media. You mature, you become a parent, but you remain a footballer. Subsequently, abruptly, it stops but your whole identity is still connected in the sport" – the retired athlete is on good form during a cracking discussion.
