Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Socceroos vice-captain Jackson Irvine has slammed FIFA’s decision to award its inaugural peace price to US President Donald Trump, saying the decision undermines FIFA’s own human rights policy.
Mr Trump was presented with the award by international football’s governing body last December after his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was overlooked in October.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Mr Trump delivered “peace and unity around the world” ahead of the 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the US with Canada and Mexico.
The US launched a military strike on Venezuela one month after the draw and began joint air strikes with Israel against Iran, without approval from Congress, on February 28.
The 33-year-old midfielder, who is based in Germany, said the move undermined the sport’s credibility and reflected the growing disconnect from the “grassroots of the game”.
“As an organisation 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 told Reuters.
“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 added he was concerned about human rights in the US, especially the treatment of LGBT communities and other marginalised groups.
“It’s not an issue just in the Middle East, in America we’re seeing more and more of the rights of these communities being taken away all over the country,” he said.
“We have to sincerely hope that we see a lot of open support in that space as well.”
In a Truth Social post from March 13, Mr Trump said he could not guarantee the safety of Iran’s national team when their group matches are played on US soil.
Irvine has long advocated for humanitarian causes. He is the captain of St Pauli – a club in the German Bundesliga known for its progressive culture – and along with 15 other players protested Qatar’s human rights record in a video released in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup.
Many players have used World Cups to promote numerous causes such as gender equality and anti-racism, but FIFA bans players from making political and religious imagery and slogans from being displayed on team equipment.
