The firestorm surrounding the World Cup following FIFA’s controversial U-turn on a red card given to USA forward Folarin Balogun may be unprecedented and bizarre, but experts believe it is not unexpected, given US President Donald Trump’s history of intervening in non-political matters.
FIFA dismissed Belgium’s appeal against the reversal of Balogun’s suspension on Monday, terming it “inadmissible”, hours before kickoff in the USA vs Belgium knockout match in Seattle.
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Balogun received a red card for stepping awkwardly on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic’s ankle in a 2-0 win for the USA in their round-of-32 match, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. It would have led to Balogun’s omission from the USA’s squad for their last-16 match against Belgium, until FIFA announced on Sunday that it had suspended the red card. The decision came after Trump had urged FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the case.
While Trump’s bond with Infantino is no secret, a leading sport industry expert says the controversy emphasises the expansion of Trump’s influence on the global governing body of football.
“Trump’s MAGA [Make America Great Again] agenda is now on full show for the world to see, as is Infantino and FIFA’s pursuit of revenues,” Simon Chadwick, professor of Afro-Eurasian sport at the Emlyon Business School in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera.
“There has long been an accident waiting to happen.”
While Trump was vocal about issues linked to the World Cup in the run-up to the tournament, including the Iranian team’s participation, he did not comment on football-related incidents once the World Cup got under way until Balogun’s red card.
Chadwick explained that as events developed, “it seemed inevitable that Trump would break his three-week-long silence, and that Infantino would capitulate to his request”.
Infantino’s damage control on Monday only reinforced Chadwick’s analysis of the situation.
The FIFA president insisted in a statement that the world football governing body’s judicial committees are independent and made the call to reverse the suspension.
“They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them,” he said, before admitting to his conversation with Trump.
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the president of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders, and business executives from around the world on many different issues,” he said in the statement.
“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold,” Infantino added.
The FIFA president said he always reads the decisions handed down, and “sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree”.
“What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them.”
Chadwick, however, argued that FIFA’s third-party interference rules flew out the window after Trump intervened.
“What has happened in the Balogun case appears highly irregular and a breach of established ethical standards,” he said.
“Apparently changing rules mid-tournament, without consultation, under the influence of an often-chaotic politician, sets a very dangerous precedent,” he added.
The decision has caused outrage against FIFA, support for Belgium, and an inevitable stream of jokes from national team head coaches wondering whether they, too, can appeal the red and yellow cards given to their players.
After England defender Jarell Quansah got sent off in his side’s 3-2 last-16 win over Mexico, England coach Thomas Tuchel questioned the decision.
“Who overturns this decision then, and when? And on what grounds? How far does this go now? This is strange for me,” Tuchel told reporters at Mexico City Stadium on Sunday.
Even former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who stepped down in 2015 amid corruption allegations, joined the criticism.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence, and independent bodies,” he wrote in a post on X.
“If a US president intervenes with the FIFA president – and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match – the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis [where are you going], FIFA? Football must never become a playground for political power.”
Chadwick echoed the sentiment.
“It raises all manner of questions: What next? By whom? For what purposes? Benefitting whom? It appears that FIFA has overstepped its remit and is permitting itself to be commercialised, geo-politicised, and Americanised.”
