Geneva
FIFA’s decision to sign a partnership agreement with Trump’s Board of Peace earlier this month has proven controversial but is expected to proceed as planned.
The Board of Peace, established under the US President Donald Trump, held its first meeting on February 19, and focused on Gaza’s reconstruction.
The FIFA collaboration plan includes building 50 mini-pitches near schools and residential areas in Gaza, five full-size pitches across multiple districts, a state-of-the-art FIFA academy and a new 20,000-seat national stadium, FIFA said.
Trump said FIFA will raise $75 million for football-related projects in Gaza.
“Today, FIFA and the Board of Peace have signed a landmark partnership agreement that will foster investment into football for the purpose of helping the recovery process in post conflict areas,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
The programme will also emphasise job creation, youth participation, organised leagues for boys and girls, community engagement and the stimulation of local commercial activities, FIFA said.
Critics of the FIFA plan accused Infantino of seeking to carry favour with Trump infringing on the football federation’s rule of political neutrality.
During the inaugural event, Infantino sported a red hat with ‘USA’ on the front and the numbers 45-47, for the two non-consecutive presidencies of Trump.
He also bestowed on the US president FIFA’s inaugural peace prize last December.
Trump has met Infantino several times, with the United States set to co-host this summer’s soccer World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.
But the International Olympic Committee, where Infantino is a member, defended the FIFA boss. “The IOC has been in contact with FIFA,” an IOC spokesman said. “We understand that FIFA is supporting, through football, a comprehensive sport recovery investment programme in Gaza.”
“This is entirely in keeping with the role of an International sport federation. The IOC, through Olympic Solidarity, which is our development vehicle, has been and continues to support sport development in the region,” the spokesman said.
The Olympic Charter states that members must always act independently of commercial and political interests. They also cannot accept “from governments, organisations, or other parties, any mandate or instructions liable to interfere with the freedom of their action and vote,” the Charter says
Critics also said that tackling housing needs and restoration of basis services in the devastated enclave should be the priority not sport facilities.
Infantino countered this criticism saying, “We don’t have to just rebuild houses or schools or hospitals or roads. We also have to rebuild and build people, emotion, hope and trust. And this is what football, my sport, is about.”