He skipped the opening ceremony and has not watched a single match, not even of the co-hosts who go by the acronym USMNT (United States Men’s National Team).
But he was there when his national team needed him the most — to rescind the red card brandished on USMNT striker Folarin Balogun for a foul on Tarik Muharemovic in the round-of-16 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The rare reprieve allows Balogun to feature in his country’s maiden quarterfinal appearance against Belgium on Tuesday.
When the US team management was fretting over alternatives and blaming the referee, Trump found the solution in a simple tap on his phone. According to the New York Times, Trump called his “friend” and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who had bestowed on him a peace prize during the draw ceremony last year, and asked if FIFA’s disciplinary committee could review the decision. Trump called Infantino thrice, reports said.
The intervention didn’t end there.
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration recruited lawyers, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Scott Goodwin, a donor to US Soccer and hedge fund manager, also played a role.
United States’ Folarin Balogun at a training session ahead of their World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium. (AP Photo)
Finally, on Sunday evening here, FIFA announced that the ban on the striker, who is USMNT’s top scorer with three goals, was lifted by invoking Chapter 4, Article 27 of the Disciplinary Code. The first clause of the article reads: “The judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”
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Within minutes, Trump posted on X, “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice!”
Later, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul… I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do.”
He said, “It should never have resulted in a dismissal. That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.”
According to Trump, “If he punched him in the face, if he did something wrong, I’d feel differently.”
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It was not the first time that a red card had been revoked in a World Cup.
In 1962, Brazilian legend Garrincha was sent off after kicking a Chile player, angered by a rough tackle. He was let off with a warning after the game, as the linesman did not appear for the hearing. But red cards back then did not carry automatic suspension.
It was not the first time heads of state were involved, either.
Chilean President Jorge Alessandri and his Brazilian counterpart, Joao Goulart, began negotiating a deal wherein Garrincha, the winger with electric heels, would not miss any game. Peruvian President Manuel Prado Ugarteche personally called the referee, his compatriot, to downplay the incident. But these details were known only much later.
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In the modern era, after FIFA’s regulations were codified, overturning one-match bans has been rare. Now, the “astonished” Royal Belgian Football Federation is deliberating whether to appeal against the overturned ban. The team’s coach, Rudi Garcia, said: “I just found out that July 5 is FIFA’s April Fools’ Day.”
US President Donald Trump has admitted that he intervened to get FIFA to allow Folarin Balogun to play the hosts’ FIFA World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium. (AP Photo)
European football’s governing body, UEFA, questioned FIFA’s integrity. “Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition,” it said.
“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,” UEFA said.
Bans are seldom fully wiped away, but often reduced. “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,” it said.
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The incident has, meanwhile, become the tournament’s talking point, as well as a source of humour.
After England’s win over Mexico, Trump praised striker Harry Kane on Truth Social, calling him a “GREAT player”. When asked whether the England captain would lobby the US President over teammate Jarell Quansah, who was shown a red card in the game, manager Thomas Tuchel replied: “Maybe, that’s a good starting point.”
But Tuchel felt the red card was harsh on Balogun in the first place. “I think, first of all, to be very clear, that it was not a red card. But VAR (Video Assistant Referee) got involved, and obviously three people from VAR and the referee checked it and were of the opinion it is a yellow card so the decision is made,” he said.
Some of Balogun’s teammates were pleasantly surprised by the verdict. Midfielder Christian Pulisic said: “For me it’s not a thing to debate. That is fantastic, not only for us because we are going to have another player available, but for football. I say to open the possibility to repair a little bit of the bad decisions.”
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Balogun himself would be left wondering about his fate. Two years ago, he was wondering which country he would represent: Nigeria, where his parents hail from, the UK, where he was raised — or the US, where he was born after a flight from New York to the UK had refused to board his heavily pregnant mother. Years later, the mightiest president in the world, sharpening anti-immigration policies by the day, has bailed him out.
If USMNT indeed defeat Belgium, the player of the game would be a man who has not attended a single match of his country this World Cup.
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