FIFA’s decision to suspend U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card, after an intervention from Donald Trump, has sparked a political firestorm and led some to warn it will tarnish their team’s achievements.
Balogun, 25, the U.S.’s breakout star, has scored three times in three games for Mauricio Pochettino’s side but was sent off in their last-32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina Wednesday for a foul on defender Tarik Muharemovic, ruling him out of their last-16 clash with Belgium.
However, after Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino Thursday, the forward’s suspension was effectively lifted, allowing him to play in Monday’s crucial knock-out match after all.
Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger, a longtime critic of the president, wrote on X: “Even FIFA is engaged in Trump crime family corruption. If USA wins the cup there will now always be an asterisk. Fair or unfair.”
Geopolitics expert Cyrus Janssen and anti-Trump commentator Brian Krassenstein both worried that the president had created a no-win situation for the U.S. team, with their achievements in the competition from here on in likely to be undermined by FIFA’s actions.
“This isn’t good karma for the U.S. Men’s Team, the U.S. President should not have the power to force FIFA to overturn a decision, but as Trump has proved in his presidency, he is above the law and the U.S. is a country without checks and balances,” Janssen posted.
“This is a lose-lose situation for Team USA now. We beat Belgium and the victory will be tainted as we needed our President to cheat to help us win. If we lose than [sic] even our President cheating couldn’t help us win.”
Krassenstein, responding to an AI video of Balogun reacting to Brazilian Raphael Claus’s red card by brandishing a literal “Trump card” of his own, said: “MAGA clowns are posting this like it’s a good thing.
“Trump getting Folarin Balogun unsuspended from the World Cup just shows you that everything he touches is delegitimate crap. Now, if the U.S. wins the World Cup, it will be questioned. Thanks, Trump.”
Political journalist Julia Ioffe accused the president of hypocrisy, given that he has recently challenged the constitutional right to birthright citizenship in the Supreme Court, only to then intervene on behalf of Balogun, who was born in New York in July 2001 to British parents who were in the city on holiday at the time and not allowed to fly home to London because of the advanced state of his mother’s pregnancy.
“The irony of Trump calling FIFA to overturn a red card for Balogun because he knows the U.S. can’t win without Balogun, who only qualifies for the U.S. team because of birthright citizenship, which Trump just tried to overturn,” she wrote.
FIFA explained its decision in a statement that read: “In line with Article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year.
“If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”
Trump took to Truth Social Sunday to thank the federation for “reversing a great injustice,” his first meaningful involvement in the World Cup so far, having attended no games. Before his intervention, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said the U.S. “got screwed” by Balogun’s sending off.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force, also privately reached out to FIFA over the matter, according to CBS News.
While the development has been welcomed by Pochettino and playmaker Christian Pulisic, many observers have been more inclined to agree with Belgium’s manager, Rudi Garcia, who said: “I didn’t know that at the World Cup the 5th of July is actually the first of April. It’s April Fools.
“We’re not defending the national team or the federation, we are defending football, integrity. It’s the first time in World Cup history that such a decision has been taken.”
The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished” by the rule-bending, given that there is no appeal process in place to challenge bookings at the tournament, while European pundits reacted with even greater derision.
Gary Neville said on ITV Sunday that Balogun’s reprieve “absolutely stinks,” while, on the BBC, Wayne Rooney said: “If I’m the USA’s opponent, I’d be absolutely fuming. I think it’s wrong in every way. I think it’s an absolute disgrace.”
Meanwhile, England manager Thomas Tuchel has jokingly suggested he might now lodge an appeal with Trump to get Jarell Quansah’s red card overturned, after the defender was dismissed in the Three Lions’ thrilling 3-2 win over Mexico.
