By Josh Bland
After four weeks of dazzling action on the pitch, it may be an off-field scandal that comes to define this summer’s World Cup. Fifa’s decision to allow America’s star striker, Folarin Balogun, to play in a last-16 match against Belgium, despite having been sent off in the previous game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, is in clear breach of the association’s own rules. The move has been greeted with outrage pretty much across the board.
Extraordinarily, Fifa, international football’s governing body, has not only so far declined to give any detailed reasoning for its decision to suspend what would be a standard one game ban following Balogun red card. The reversal appears to result from direct pressure from the White House. Media reports suggest that Donald Trump made three calls to Fifa, starting from Wednesday, to ensure that the red card was overturned. The White House has said that the call was made to understand why Balogun was sent off and the reason for the suspension.
Whether Balogun deserved to be sent off is debatable. It’s also of secondary importance when compared to the the potential reverberations of this seismic intervention from Fifa.
Naturally, the decision has been met with anger and bewilderment from the wider footballing community outside the US, not least by the Belgians, who must now prepare to face the US men’s national soccer team’s (USMNT) most dangerous player with 24 hours notice. The Belgian FA’s statement promising to explore “all potential options” in the name of “[safeguarding] the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport”, suggests that they have no intention of taking this lying down.
Uefa, the governing body for football in Europe, has released a statement expressing “our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision”.
The statement said that the one-match suspension rule following a red card is “not a discretionary option”. “It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension.”
Zooming out from the immediate fallout, this episode feels like a microcosm for the health of global football more broadly. In simple terms, this appears to be a case where an apparently settled disciplinary decision has been reversed due to political lobbying. In that context, the White House’s alleged intervention has prompted familiar and uncomfortable questions about the disciplinary authority of Fifa, bringing ever more attention to the opacity of the organisation’s processes.
Scrutiny must particularly fall on Gianni Infantino. Keen observers will be aware of the Fifa chairman’s form when it comes to sucking up to the Maga regime. Despite maintaining an official stance of political neutrality, the build up to this World Cup has been defined by images of Infantino pandering to Donald Trump’s ego, by parading in Maga hats and awarding him concocted peace prizes.
But this latest act may finally prove a bridge too far. Infantino now appears to be actively undermining the sporting integrity of the very game he leads to keep in with the US president.
A question of trust
Ultimately, this story boils down to a question of trust and sporting integrity, two themes that sit at the heart of my own research into football support as a form of living heritage. Unlike monuments or historic buildings, living heritage survives because communities continually transmit specific values and experiences across generations.
The World Cup is one of the clearest examples of this phenomenon. Its cultural significance does not arise solely from unforgettable matches, moments and performances. Rather, it emerges from the rituals and shared experiences that surround the tournament: supporters travelling across continents, families gathering to watch matches together, stories passed between generations. And, most importantly, the collective belief that the competition not only represents the ultimate prize of international football – but a fundamentally fair one.
That belief in fairness is particularly vital here. The World Cup matters because billions of people accept that victories and defeats are earned within a legitimate competitive framework. They celebrate triumphs because they broadly trust the competition. They accept disappointment because they trust the rules. Those shared assumptions underpin the tournament as a form of living cultural heritage.
When Fifa so flagrantly departs from established procedures and appears to willingly submit to political influence, that foundation is fundamentally damaged.
Once supporters begin to question not simply the outcome of individual refereeing decisions, but the legitimacy of the system itself, it corrodes the implicit trust and uncomplicated beauty of the game itself. Once lost, those things are exceptionally difficult to rebuild.
That is why governance can never be dismissed as a dry administrative concern. Transparent procedures, accountable institutions and genuine independence are the pillars upon which the legitimacy of the World Cup and football at large rests.
Football’s greatest tournament derives its power from the belief that every nation competes according to the same rules. If Fifa is prepared to abandon that principle in the face of political pressure it risks sacrificing something far more valuable than its own credibility. It risks undermining the very trust that has made the World Cup the most important sporting event on Earth.
Folarin Balogun’s availability against Belgium may make headlines for a day or two. The far bigger story is that Fifa has invited the world to wonder whether the rules of the World Cup are still applied equally at all.
Josh Bland is a doctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge.
Trump the fixer says
These Fifi soccer Referee wimps, I tell ya…
Two prime athletes in the fog of battle collide and one gets his foot stepped on? Ref acts like he punched him in the balls. I could care less of the outcome I have no skin in the game but the moral point of this story is:
IS THERE ANYTHING DONALD TRUMP CANNOT FIX??!??
Well ??!?!??
Deborah Coffey says
The better question is: Is there nothing Donald Trump won’t break? The U.S. is mortified, disrespected and WE LOST!
Sherry says
A Huge Thank You Deborah! The perfect response to “Idiocy” !!!
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor PC says
So typical leftist anti-American garbage coming from some nobody student hiding behind the walls of some liberal university. Please seek help for your severe medical case of TDS. Thank you President Trump for standing up for America and making the call for our USA Team! USA, USA, USA!
Kim says
Really? A lot of assumptions there. Leftist, liberal university, TDS? Maybe just someone who has some ethics?
You actually think this is ok? Trump has no business “making the call”. That’s up to the officials. Maybe Trump can start calling all the NFL games? Get real. And it’s sad you feel the need to use a long ago title you once held. Who cares? Get some help.
Sherry says
Right On Kim! HUGS!
Atwp says
Ed you call a person a nobody perhaps you fit the nobody description a former vice mayor. I don’t think it would be wise to run for office again. Me and other will remember your nobody word. Shame on you.
PaulT says
Is your comment based on personal experience Ed, as an (un) professional, locally recognized ‘nonentity’,?
If you actually read the article you will find out it’s quite informative and you’d learn that it is actually about how lousy a FIFA p resident Gianni Infantino is, Trump is just part of the sub-plot.
Deborah Coffey says
The bully attacks again. But, the universe spoke to Trump again last night…just like it did on his July 4th celebration with lightning and thunder. The U.S. team played a most embarrassing game…and lost.
Fair play says
Yes agreed they did but they lost fairly and with their best player. Had they predictably lost the game without their star guy, the questionable red card would always be considered probably the reason why. This is what Trump wanted, a fair game and that’s what we got.
Deborah Coffey says
There is nothing in this life that Donald J. Trump wants to be FAIR. “Fair” to Donald Trump means it benefits him. This is just so obvious in the midst of his massive corruptness. He pays no taxes; do you? He thinks that’s fair. He pardons big time felons and thieves while he has anti-Trumpers prosecuted for made-up crimes that the courts throw out. Is that fair?
Laurel says
Deborah, you missed the irony of Fair play’s comment. Trump wanted to cheat the refs and it backfired on him. Perfect, but embarrassing, as usual, for us.
Laurel says
He continues to embarrass us.
Yes, the trust is damaged. Trump damages everything he touches.
Sportsmanship is dead. Trump did not kill it, but unceremoniously gave it a funeral, and buried it in front of the world.
The dude says
Everything the orange shit stain touches turns to shyte…
PaulT says
We really shouldn’t be surprised by Trump’s actions, his attempt to ‘fix’ things.
He’s reputed to cheat at golf and his favorite spectator ‘sport’ has always been WWF where the spectacle follows a script and has a pre-determined winner. The shock is that FIFA folded to Trump’s demands and it’s disturbing that the White House together with Trump’s lawyers were actively involved in this, preparing an official appeal against the red flag/suspension decision.
FIFA’s capitulation has also opened a bag of worms because red flag rulings by match officials are supposed to be sacrosanct, Now Britain’s Football Association is discussing an appeal against a similar suspension of one of the England Worls Cup squad.
But apart from lost trust in FIFA all is well. Lacklustre teamUSA were trounced 4-1 by Belgium last night which is not something to celebrate but does prove Trump can’t control everything.
And now we wait. For the aggrieved late night Truth Social outburst threatening reprisals against Belgium. My bet is tariffs but it could be a freeze on US arms sales to NATO unless they suspend Belgium, or a ban on Belgian chocolates and beer.
Because that’s how Trump plays the game.
john stove says
Everything….EVERYTHING this guy touches turns to S**T…. I cant think of a single thing this orange imbecile doesn’t screw up.
Will forever be known as the worst president in the history of the US along with a con man grifter pedophile to “sells” cheap merchandise that is garbage….
Laurel says
He f*cked up vodka! How does anyone f*ck up vodka? Now he’s busy f*cking up the United States.
Sherry says
No Kings! No Emperors! No Dictators! No Demigods!
WE THE PEOPLE!
Land of no turn signals says says
No surprise that the woke folk are rounding up the bullshit wagon train that runs on the salty tears over the last land slide election.
Deborah Coffey says
The last election wasn’t a landslide. FACTS scare you?
Sherry says
Thank you Deborah! Obviously they do. . . FACTS scare “All” Maga Cult Members!
Laurel says
Land: Sorry to bust your fantasy, but no salty tears here.
Please define the “bullshit,” and be specific with facts.
Laurel says
I know, I know. Facts have no space in the Trumpian world.
Sherry says
Maga says. . . Honesty, Ethics, Integrity, Honor. . . “We don’t need no stinking morals”. . . “this is trump’s reality now. . . he got into office. . . deal with it Karens”!