Trump called FIFA chief to lift Balogun ban before USA-Belgium clash

In a sequence of events with few precedents in World Cup history, FIFA announced on Sunday that it had suspended the automatic one-match ban handed to US striker Folarin Balogun, clearing him to play against Belgium in the round of 16 in Seattle on Monday. The announcement came days after President Donald Trump reportedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request a review of the red card.

Balogun, 25, who plays club football for Monaco in France's Ligue 1, had been sent off in the 64th minute of the United States' 2-0 round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 July. He caught defender Tarik Muharemović with his studs in a challenge that went uncalled by the on-field referee but was flagged by VAR, which sent the referee to the pitchside monitor. The red card carried an automatic one-game suspension under FIFA World Cup competition rules. Balogun is the tournament's top American scorer, with three goals.

The Trump call

Multiple news organisations, including the Associated Press, the New York Times and CNN, reported that Trump called Infantino after the red card and asked for the decision to be reviewed. A source familiar with the call told CNN that Trump wanted to understand why the card had been issued and why it led to a suspension. Trump subsequently posted on his Truth Social account: "Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice!"

FIFA announced the reversal on Sunday afternoon, citing Article 27 of its disciplinary code. That rule allows FIFA's judicial body to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. The governing body said the ban had been placed on a one-year probationary period: if Balogun commits another offence of similar nature during that period, the original suspension would be enforced. FIFA did not address questions about whether the White House was involved in the decision.

“"I didn't know that in the offices of FIFA, July 5 was the April 1 in Europe." — Rudi Garcia, Belgium head coach”

Belgium's furious response

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was "astonished" by FIFA's ruling and argued it directly contradicts the tournament's own written regulations. Belgium pointed to Article 10.5 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations, which states that any player sent off automatically misses the next match, and noted that this rule had been explicitly reaffirmed in a FIFA circular sent to all national associations as recently as 12 May. "In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport," the RBFA said, it was investigating all potential options, which could include an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The controversy drew in other nations. England manager Thomas Tuchel, whose side are also at the tournament, noted the precedent the decision sets. Speaking at a press conference, he asked: "Where to draw the line? That's the question I ask and I have no answer to that." English former international Gary Neville, speaking on ITV, said the decision "absolutely stinks" and argued that even if the original red card was harsh, there was no proper process in place for overturning suspensions — and that FIFA's unilateral move without such a process was worse than the card itself.

Not without precedent, but never quite like this

FIFA's use of Article 27 is not, technically, without precedent. The same provision was applied last year when Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo received a three-match ban for an elbow during a World Cup qualifier. FIFA suspended two of those games to a probationary period, allowing Ronaldo to play from the start of this tournament. Critics, however, note a significant difference: in Ronaldo's case, the decision was made before the World Cup began, not in the 24 hours before a knockout match directly involving the host nation.

“"There is no known precedent for a political leader pressuring FIFA about who can play in a game, let alone one so important to a host nation's chances of advancing." — CNN analysis”

The episode has thrown a long shadow over what had been a broadly well-received tournament. For international observers, the optics are difficult to separate from the politics. Trump and Infantino have cultivated a visible personal relationship: Infantino awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the World Cup draw ceremony in Washington in December, and Trump's 2025 financial disclosure, made public last week, revealed that Infantino gave Trump 10 tickets valued at $15,000 to last year's FIFA Club World Cup final. Whether FIFA's decision was influenced by that relationship, or simply the result of a disciplinary body exercising its discretionary powers, may never be conclusively established. What is already clear is that the integrity of the tournament's own rules has been put under serious and very public strain.

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