The Gaza Strip is in devastation, with entire neighborhoods flattened and significant concerns regarding the reconstruction of essential water and sewage systems, roads, electrical infrastructure, and the vital facilities necessary to ensure sufficient food production to avert widespread hunger.
However, a new national soccer stadium for a region ravaged by over two years of conflict between Israel and Hamas is reportedly assured — or so claims the international governing body of the sport.
This unexpected commitment was part of a dramatic and often peculiar display of political theater at the inaugural session of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday, where nine nations committed $7 billion towards a Gaza relief initiative, and five others announced plans to send troops as part of an international stabilization effort.
“We must not only reconstruct homes, schools, hospitals, and roads,” stated FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “We also need to rebuild and nurture people, emotions, hope, and trust. This is what football, my sport, embodies.”
FIFA has pledged $50 million for a new stadium with a capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 spectators, and it announced plans to establish a $15 million FIFA academy. The organization also committed to investing an additional $2.5 million for 50 “arena mini pitches,” or soccer fields, along with five full-sized fields at a cost of $1 million each.
Gaza does not possess a national soccer team. A unified Palestinian team represents both Gaza and the West Bank and has been recognized by FIFA since 1998, although it has never qualified for the World Cup.
“Football, or soccer, as it is referred to here, is the universal language of the world,” Infantino remarked. “It symbolizes hope. It represents joy. It embodies happiness. It fosters unity. It brings the world together.”
He presented a video that declared, “A simple ball. A shared field. A reason to believe again,” while emphasizing that FIFA and the Board of Peace were collaborating to “transform football into a bridge for peace, dignity, and hope.”
The video highlighted FIFA’s plans to establish soccer leagues in Gaza at youth, amateur, and regional levels, promising a “comprehensive football ecosystem aimed at supporting communities and future generations.”
Infantino has frequently appeared at the White House in the lead-up to this year’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. He also often attends Trump events during the president’s travels. He was present in Davos, Switzerland, last month when the Board of Peace — part of a broader White House-mediated ceasefire to conclude the conflict in Gaza — was officially launched.
Trump consistently highlighted Infantino during his remarks at the Board of Peace event on Thursday, attempting to downplay the absence of several key U.S. allies — including Britain and Canada.
“Almost everyone here is the leader of a country,” Trump noted regarding the board’s members, while pointing out that Infantino is “the head of soccer, so that’s not too bad.”
“I think I like your job the most,” Trump remarked.
Attendees at Thursday’s event received Make America Great Again-style red hats emblazoned with “USA” in white letters and featuring “45-47,” representing Trump’s two presidential terms. Infantino briefly donned his hat, as did others present.
The president acknowledged Infantino during various anecdotes on unrelated subjects. Trump even informed Infantino that B-2 bombers carry “very big bombs.”
However, the president’s most enthusiastic commendation for Infantino was regarding his organization awarding Trump a new FIFA peace prize last year — following the president’s vigorous campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize, which was denied by the Norwegian committee responsible for granting it.
“I believe they recognized that I was overlooked by Norway,” Trump stated.
