Perhaps it was the resounding victory of the Dutch, but King Willem-Alexander did not mince his words after the Netherlands-Sweden World Cup match. He talked about his conversation with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino during the match. “I may have made a few suggestions for the peace prize in the coming years,” the king joked.
Because during the first presentation of the brand new FIFA Peace Prize, the award went to none other than Donald Trump. Including for his work in the Middle East conflict. It earned Infantino a lot of criticism. More than he already got.
Football fans accuse Infantino of considering money more important than football. For example, he previously gave a World Cup to Qatar, which led to strong criticism from human rights organizations. The drinking breaks during the current World Cup, which are used for commercial breaks, have also caused a stir.
Infantino created the Peace Prize for “individuals who have taken extraordinary actions for peace and thereby unite people worldwide.” It was already expected that Trump would win the prize, an idea from Infantino to appease the US president.
The king sat next to the FIFA boss in the stands on Saturday evening. “I am a guest here at FIFA. And if Infantino is there, I will sit next to him,” the king simply told NOS.
“We are here to support the Netherlands. I am not a member of FIFA myself. We have a different way of dealing with this at the IOC,” says the king, who is an honorary member of the Olympic organization. “I hope that they learn from this before Los Angeles 2028, that this is handled well.” He is referring to the Summer Olympics.
‘Not good for the heart’
The king visited the match in Houston together with Queen Máxima and Princess Ariane. The match resulted in a 5-1 win for the Netherlands, but was nevertheless nerve-wracking, according to the king.
“I looked a few times to see where the defibrillator was, because I sometimes needed it,” the king laughed afterwards. “It wasn’t so good for my heart at times.” The king is grateful that he was allowed to ‘stand in that dressing room on behalf of the other eighteen million national coaches’ when he visited the players after the match.
The royal couple’s youngest daughter, Princess Ariane, was also present this year. “So wonderful to see this top performance and to be able to sit here. We are all very fans, especially when the Netherlands plays.”
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