World Cup 2026: President Donald Trump reportedly called FIFA's Gianni Infantino to review Folarin Balogun's red card suspension

Yahoo Sports ^ | 07/05/2026 | Nick Bromberg

[SeekAndFind]

President Donald Trump reportedly pushed for FIFA to allow United States striker Folarin Balogun to play on Monday against Belgium.

FIFA stunned the soccer world with its announcement Sunday that Balogun's one-match ban for his straight red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup Round of 32 had been suspended and he would be allowed to play in the Round of 16.

Sunday afternoon, several reports emerged that Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Wednesday and asked for the World Cup governing body to review Balogun's ban.

According to The Athletic, FIFA has granted Belgium the ability to appeal the suspension of Balogun's red-card ban. A member of FIFA's appeals committee will hear the case, The Athletic reported.

UEFA — the Union of European Football Associations — also criticized the decision to suspend Balogun's one-game ban.

"When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined," UEFA said in its statement.

"We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision."

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, helped recruit lawyers and communicated with U.S. Soccer officials as they presented their case to FIFA to ask for Balogun's ban to be lifted. Trump reportedly also called Infantino midway through last week to ask for the red card to be reviewed.

Trump and Infantino have a chummy relationship. The two have been especially friendly in public as the president is expected to play a role in the trophy ceremony at the World Cup final on July 19. In December, Infantino and FIFA awarded Trump the inaugural "FIFA Peace Prize" at the World Cup draw.

[neverevergiveup]

No, not because it was an American player but because an American president injected himself into the decision.

I've seen a significant amount of anti-American comments on European soccer sites - predating any of this. Some were commenting on American 'cheating' after the US won its first game.