‘Absolutely shocking’: Trump intervention creates global uproar
Former Socceroo Craig Foster has labelled Donald Trump’s request for FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the decision to give a red card and one-game ban to star US striker Folarin Balogun as “horrible” as the football world and beyond expressed disbelief over the decision.
Following Trump’s phone call to Infantino, FIFA announced that Balogun would be eligible to play in the Round of 16 against Belgium on Tuesday morning (AEST), igniting questions around the integrity of the tournament.
President Donald Trump speaks about FIFA after ringing the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq in the Oval Office at the White House. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
The decision even conjured a response from former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, who was charged with fraud, forgery and criminal mismanagement in 2021, saying “football must never become a playground for political power.”
Speaking to Nine’s Today, Foster called Trump’s actions “political interference” and that FIFA rules state such indiscretions come with hefty penalties.
“It’s wrong. Political interference by a government in into the game or influencing decisions of the game, actually under FIFA statute should result in a suspension of the federation and often does, of course, only small federations, not the US, right?
“It’s all about power. This is the way Trump is operating in every field, not just, football. Sadly it’s come to the World Cup.”
Foster declared if Trump’s actions directly impact results, then Team USA will have that hanging over them for the entirety of the tournament.
Additionally, the commentary around the validity of the red card from pundits in the US, has also muddied the waters, he believes.
“It doesn’t matter about whether you think it was a red card or otherwise, this is what US a lot of people and pundits and fans are carrying on with - ‘well it wasn’t a red card’ - it doesn’t matter, it was given, the referee had discretion to give it, under the rules, he could give it, the VAR intervened, said it was correct, and that’s the end of it,” Foster, who played 29 games for Australia, responded.
“There’s no precedent when it comes to the World Cup tournament, you actually can’t overturn something. The ast time it happened, you’re going back to 1962.
“There’s a good reason why the regulations were changed, because that was political intervention as well. This is absolutely shocking.”
In 1962, political intervention at the World Cup saved Brazilian star Garrincha from suspension after he received a red card in the semi-final against hosts Chile.
Chilean President Jorge Alessandri reached out to FIFA, and the Peruvian President reportedly called the referee, helping Garrincha play in the final.
To combat political intervention, FIFA established strict rules backed by severe sanctions like expulsion or suspension for the federation involved.
Ironically, the governing body’s former boss, Blatter, took to social media to denounce the sequence of events.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies,” he wrote.
“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.”
How Infantino navigates Trump’s interference after the World Cup concludes will be telling.
When speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday AEST, Trump said: All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this’,” adding that he “didn’t think it was a foul”.
He referred to the incident as “two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other”.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said of the Balogun foul.
The comments represent the first detailed account from Trump on his conversation with Infantino, with whom he has a close relationship.
“He thinks he’s helping (Janni) Infantino but every word he mutters his ruining him even more,” former Liverpool skipper Jamie Carragher wrote on social media.
Sepp Blatter. EPA/Patrick B Kraemer
UEFA also hammered the call in a strongly-worded statement.
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” the European body said.
“Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. 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.
“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. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.
“Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Folarin Balogun (right), fouls Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic, resulting in a red card in the match between the United States and Bosnia last week. AP
Infantino also addressed the controversy in a lengthy statement posted on X, confirming the call with Trump but asserting that the decision on Balogun’s suspension came from an independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
“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,” Infantino 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.”
Trump called the referee’s integrity into question, saying the referee was a “little bit suspect” as he encouraged reporters to “check his past.”
The Belgian football federation is challenging Balogun’s eligibility but FIFA quickly denied it, deciding that Belgium was not a party to the proceedings and had no standing, as the decision happened during a game between the US and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
England great Wayne Rooney also called the reversal an “absolute disgrace.”
The card itself sparked debate over whether it was warranted from the moment it was shown.
US striker Folarin Balogun’s ban has been lifted, while Donald Trump has built a relationship with Gianni Infantino. AP
The referee in the match did not rule it a foul, instead appearing to decide that it was a fair coming together of players who were chasing after the ball.
It took the intervention of the video assistant referee to call attention to whether Balogun had committed a foul.
The referee was shown slow motion replays of the incident, something that is out of protocol with video review in World Cup matches, and those replays showed Balogun’s studs catching the ankle of the Bosnian player.
It was then decided it was a red card for “serious foul play”, sending Balogun off the pitch and raising questions about whether proper process had been followed or if the decision was too harsh.
Describing the call as “horrible” and “unfair”, Trump said that if Balogun hadn’t been able to play, it would have been a “big stain” on the tournament.
A US official told CNN earlier Monday that Trump was simply seeking to “better understand the reason why a red card was given and why there was a suspension”.
And while the president told reporters in the Oval Office “I understand sports really well”, he also suggested he was unaware that a red card meant the player would be unable to compete in the next match.
“I didn’t know what that meant – I didn’t think it meant much. And then I started hearing that that means you can’t play in the next game,” he said.
Folarin Balogun reacts to the red card. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
The US official also told CNN that the US government provided FIFA with “additional evidence” for the appeal process, though they declined to specify the substance of that evidence.
“I had nothing to do with the decision,” Trump said.
Trump is expected to be aboard Air Force One en route to Turkey for the NATO Summit as Team USA faces Belgium – also a NATO member.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked that the controversy might be brought up at the summit, adding that he believed it was “the right decision” to overturn the striker’s suspension.
“Maybe it’s turning into an international incident. Maybe we’ll bring it up at NATO tomorrow when we’re there with the Belgians and everybody else,” he quipped when asked about the matter during a photo spray with the Chilean foreign minister.
