Three calls from US President Donald Trump were all it took for FIFA to overturn Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban, according to multiple reports, clearing the United States striker to face Belgium in Monday’s FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash and triggering one of the biggest controversies of the tournament.
Trump personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review Balogun’s dismissal, with The Guardian reporting that the US president made three phone calls since last Wednesday. The Associated Press and CBS News also reported that Trump intervened before FIFA lifted the mandatory suspension that followed the striker’s red card.
Balogun, the United States’ leading scorer with three goals at the tournament, was sent off during the 2-0 Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina after catching defender Tarik Muharemovic on the ankle with his studs. The decision, upheld after a VAR review, meant he was set to miss the last-16 clash against Belgium.
However, FIFA announced on Sunday that the suspension would not be enforced immediately, making Balogun available for the United States’ biggest match of the tournament so far.
Trump welcomed the decision on Truth Social. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice,” he wrote.
The United States squad learned of Balogun’s reprieve while travelling to training in Seattle. “We found out about it just coming over here,” Christian Pulisic told reporters. “At first, you’re like, ‘Oh really, is this real?’ And then, ‘Oh, this is great news’.”
US coach Mauricio Pochettino also backed FIFA’s decision.
“I think 99.9% of people in football have said this is an unfair punishment,” Pochettino said. “There’s evidence from the past that makes it possible to suspend a punishment and fulfil it later on. I’m happy because it would have been unfair.”
BELGIUM FURIOUS OVER FIFA DECISION
The decision drew an angry response from Belgium ahead of Monday’s knockout tie.
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “astonished” by FIFA’s ruling and began examining its legal options.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia questioned the governing body’s decision.
“I didn’t know that in the offices of FIFA the fifth of July was the first of April in Europe,” Garcia said through a translator.
“The Belgian federation does not defend itself. It defends football in general, its integrity and its ethics. I think it’s the first time in the history of the World Cup that there is this kind of decision.”
The RBFA said FIFA’s decision contradicted its own rules, citing Article 66.4 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which states that a player sent off must automatically miss the team’s next match.
The federation pointed to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations, which state: “If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team’s subsequent match. In addition, further sanctions may be imposed.”
The Belgian federation added that the rule had been applied consistently throughout the tournament and said it is reviewing its options to protect the sporting integrity of the competition.
HOW DID FIFA JUSTIFY THE REVERSAL?
FIFA said the decision was taken under Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code, which allows its judicial bodies to suspend the implementation of certain sanctions.
“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,” FIFA said in a statement.
“If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”
FIFA did not overturn Balogun’s red card. Instead, it deferred the one-match ban, meaning it will only come into force if he commits a similar offence during the one-year probation period.
The governing body has not explained why Balogun’s case warranted exceptional treatment while every other player sent off during the 2026 World Cup served their suspension.
WHY FIFA’S DECISION IS CONTROVERSIAL
The ruling has fuelled debate over FIFA’s disciplinary process.
According to reports, there have been 189 red cards in World Cup history. Balogun has become only the second player to avoid serving a suspension after being sent off.
The only previous case came in 1962, when Brazil’s Garrincha was dismissed in the semi-final against Chile but was allowed to play in the final against Czechoslovakia. However, there was no automatic suspension rule at the time. The decision was taken by a disciplinary committee and was later surrounded by allegations of political interference.
Balogun’s case is different because FIFA’s current rules clearly provide for a mandatory one-match ban after a straight red card. Every other player sent off at the 2026 World Cup has served that punishment.
The decision has also raised wider questions. Why was Balogun granted relief while the other 11 players sent off at this tournament were not? Will more teams now seek similar treatment? And does this set a precedent for future World Cups?
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT FOR THE US?
One of the cornerstones of FIFA’s World Cup disciplinary process is that red-card suspensions cannot be appealed during the tournament. That is why Balogun’s case has attracted so much attention.
His sending-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina sparked an outcry in the United States, with several media outlets arguing that he had effectively been punished twice by missing the final 27 minutes of that match as well as the Round of 16 clash against Belgium.
The issue quickly reached the highest levels of the US government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States had “got screwed with that red card” and argued there should be an appeal process.
According to CBS News, Donald Trump later spoke directly to Gianni Infantino. White House World Cup task force executive director Andrew Giuliani and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were also in contact with FIFA over the incident.
Trump thanked FIFA after the suspension was lifted, calling it the reversal of “a great injustice.”
The biggest question, however, is why FIFA chose to exercise its discretion in Balogun’s case when every other player sent off at this World Cup served the standard punishment.
Why was Balogun granted a reprieve while the other 11 players dismissed during the tournament all served automatic one-match bans? Does the decision create a precedent that could encourage more challenges to mandatory suspensions in future tournaments?
FIFA has offered no detailed explanation, leaving a vacuum that has fuelled speculation. What made this a special case? What factors were considered? Who made the final decision?
In England, the Football Association would ordinarily publish the written reasons behind such a ruling. The United States can ask FIFA to release its reasoning, but Belgium cannot.
BBC Sport pundit Micah Richards described the decision as a farce. “To have it suspended for a year makes a mockery of the whole tournament,” he said. “It is to keep the big stars in the competition. How can that happen? FIFA needs to do better. It has left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
The decision has also renewed scrutiny of FIFA’s relationship with the United States, one of the tournament’s co-hosts. FIFA’s statutes prohibit political interference in football, and the involvement of senior members of the US administration is certain to intensify questions over the governing body’s decision-making. FIFA’s ethics committee had already been asked to investigate Infantino over claims he breached the organisation’s political neutrality rules in relation to awarding Trump FIFA’s Peace Prize.
Balogun will now be available against Belgium, but Monday’s last-16 tie will be played against the backdrop of one of the tournament’s biggest controversies. Whatever the result, FIFA’s decision, and the role played by the White House before it, is likely to remain one of the defining talking points of the 2026 World Cup.
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