SEATTLE — The U.S. and Belgium met Monday in a World Cup elimination game overshadowed by controversy involving President Trump, FIFA leader Gianni Infantino and FIFA’s own byzantine rules, all of which played a role in allowing U.S. striker Folarin Balogun to start in the game even though he had been suspended.
Balogun was given a red card in the second half of the Americans’ win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday. A player who receives a red card is expelled from that match and suspended for at least the next game. The U.S. appealed both the red card and the suspension and were told the penalties would stand only to have FIFA reverse course Sunday, an exceedingly rare decision that cleared the way for Balogun, who leads the U.S. with three goals in the tournament, to play.
The winner of the U.S.-Belgium game will face Spain in the quarterfinals Friday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Infantino immediately came under fire for the decision, with the outrage spiking after Trump told reporters at the White House that he was instrumental in getting the suspension overturned.
“Yes, I asked FIFA to review it. I spoke to a man who is highly respected,” Trump said in reference to Infantino. “I’m the one who got them to do it.”
That led Infantino to release a lengthy written statement, one in which he acknowledged talking to Trump but pushed back on the idea that the president had anything to with the decision to hold the suspension in abeyance.
“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent,” the statement said. “They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.
“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. 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.”
U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, left, collides with Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic during a World Cup round-of-32 match on July 1.
(Michael Steele / Getty Images)
However, The Athletic reported that the phone call between Trump and Infantino was part of the White House’s intervention. Its website said the reporting was based on multiple unnamed sources familiar with the pressure campaign.
According to the report, lawyers were recruited by the administration, in tandem with Howard Lutnick, the Commerce secretary, and Scott Goodwin, a hedge fund manager and donor to U.S. Soccer. Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, was actively engaged in the process, working with the lawyers and seeking updates from FIFA and U.S. Soccer, the report stated.
Balogun is just the second player to have a red-card suspension overruled in a World Cup. The first was Brazilian attacker Garrincha, who was allowed to play in the 1962 final after Tancredo Neves, then Brazil’s prime minister, lobbied on his behalf.
The Royal Belgium Football Assn. launched a last-minute appeal seeking to block Balogun from playing Monday, but FIFA rejected it, ruling it inadmissible on the grounds that “the RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision.”
Thirteen players have received red cards in this World Cup, but only Balogun has had his suspension overturned. That decision led France to appeal the red card given to Michael Olise in its win over Paraguay. England’s Football Assn. said it is also considering an appeal of the red card Jarell Quansah received in its round-of-16 win over Mexico.
UEFA, the governing body for soccer in Europe and the largest, most powerful of FIFA’s six confederations, called the ruling that cleared Balogun to play an “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
“Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition,” UEFA said in a statement. “Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.
“A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. 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.”
Balogun drew the red card after colliding with Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic 16 minutes into the second half of Wednesday’s round-of-32 game in Santa Clara. When the Bosnian defender planted his right leg below Balogun’s right foot, the American inadvertently stomped on his right ankle, twisting it awkwardly.
Both players went down, but Brazilian referee Raphael Claus did not signal a foul or pull a card. However, after the video assistant referee urged him to watch a replay, Claus walked away from the monitor and flashed a red card.
The U.S. appealed the decision in part because Claus reviewed the play in slow motion, contrary to FIFA protocols. FIFA initially denied the appeal before later announcing on early Sunday that it had decided to allow Balogun to play, saying only that “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.”
Article 27 allows FIFA’s judicial bodies (such as the Disciplinary Committee) to fully or partly suspend a disciplinary sanction. This temporarily waives the immediate enforcement of the punishment and places the sanctioned individual on a probationary period lasting anywhere from one to four years.
