Posted on 07/06/2026 7:48:40 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
It was a BS call. To go from no foul to a red card on a slow motion review was wrong. At the very most a yellow card.
Bad call gets called out.
Every soccer analyst from here to Europe have all said it was a bad call and the red card never should have been issued in the first place. All the crying and whining over this is because it was an American player involved and Trump reportedly made a call to FIFA.
All of the leftist sportswriters are upset about it too. I hope Balogun scores 4 goals tonight.
Fook Guardian and their anti-American views.
Trump’s request for a review is nothing of illegal or unusual:
1. Not a “red” fault, but an accident. No one’s hurt.
2. Precedents: Garrincha in 1962, Ronaldo recently in a WC competition previous phase.
If Belgium are afraid of Balogun, they should go back home with tails between their legs... legal action against future opponent is immoral and pathetic...
Beat The Phlegms!
“All the crying and whining over this is because it was an American player involved and Trump reportedly made a call to FIFA.”
No, not because it was an American plyer but because an American president injected himself into the decision.
Those reversals took place without the most powerful man of earth leaning on the committee.
F the guardian, it was a BS call and T$ did something about it because he’s American 1st. The red card Quansah got in the England/Mexico game was BS as well, but I doubt starmer does anything about it because he’s England last.
Let’s face it, FIFA and many of the nations involved DO NOT WANT the ‘upstart Americans’ to ever win a World Cup
Ronaldo was sent off in Portugal’s penultimate World Cup qualifying match against the Republic of Ireland for an elbow. He initially received a three-match suspension for violent conduct.
FIFA later reduced the practical effect of that suspension by having him serve one match immediately (Portugal’s final qualifier) while suspending the remaining two matches under a one-year probationary period. That made him eligible to play from Portugal’s opening World Cup match onward.
That disciplinary decision has become known as the precedent for FIFA’s later decision involving Folarin Balogun, whose World Cup suspension was also controversially suspended under the same disciplinary provision.
The red card was total BS. The two players were both going for the ball and their feet got tangled up. That play happens a dozen times a game and usually doesn’t even draw a yellow card unless it is deliberate.
CORRECT
FIFA rejected the Belgium’s appeal this morning.
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/folarin-balogun-cleared-face-belgium-164700687.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.