MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump admits calling FIFA over a red card; the reversal for the US striker sparks an outcry

Trump acknowledged his intervention and defended it. “All I did was ask that the play be reviewed, because it didn't look like a foul to me,” the president said

US President Donald Trump admitted he had called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask that the red card shown to US striker Folarin Balogun be reviewed, after the body reversed the suspension that would have kept him out of the round-of-16 match against Belgium. The decision, unprecedented in more than six decades of World Cups, triggered a wave of criticism and formal protests from the Belgian federation and UEFA.

Balogun, the host nation's top scorer, had been sent off on July 1 during a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which carried an automatic one-match suspension with no appeal. On Sunday, however, FIFA announced it was suspending the enforcement of that sanction for a one-year probationary period, invoking Article 27 of its disciplinary code. In practice, the move cleared the player for Monday's match in Seattle, though he will have to serve the ban if he commits a similar foul in the next twelve months.

Trump acknowledged his intervention and defended it. “All I did was ask that the play be reviewed, because it didn't look like a foul to me,” the president said, adding that he had “a good eye” for such situations, and celebrated the decision on his social network: “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio had also publicly called for the card to be rescinded. According to sources cited by US media, Trump's call to Infantino took place on the same Wednesday as the sending-off.

The ruling drew rejection across European football. The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished” and announced it would challenge the measure, arguing it contradicts FIFA's own rules; its coach, Rudi Garcia, mocked the decision by comparing it to an April Fools' joke. UEFA said FIFA had “crossed a red line,” and a European commissioner held that “decisions on sporting rules belong to sporting bodies, not politicians.”

The episode revived questions about the closeness between Trump and Infantino, whose relationship dates back to 2018. The president's financial disclosure, released last week, revealed that Infantino had given him ten tickets —valued at $15,000— for the 2025 Club World Cup final, and in December FIFA awarded him its first “peace prize.” The case also set an immediate precedent: after England's Jarell Quansah was sent off on Sunday in identical circumstances, questions arose over whether the body will apply the same criterion to players from other national teams.