Why FIFA’s Balogun red card suspension after Trump call is so controversial 

The United States’ World Cup campaign took an extraordinary turn on Sunday when FIFA seemingly broke with its own rules to allow star player Folarin Balogun to face Belgium in Monday’s last-16 clash despite receiving a red card in the round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.

The global football body announced that it had suspended the red card — which had meant an automatic one-match ban for Balogun — after US President Donald Trump personally urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the case.

Balogun, who plays his club football for Monaco in France, has scored three goals for the US at this World Cup, and is the team’s leading scorer in the tournament.

The FIFA decision prompted criticism from Belgium’s football association, Europe’s top football body, a former FIFA boss, and multiple top former players among others. Critics argued that overturning a red-card suspension after direct political intervention undermined the integrity of the tournament and set a dangerous precedent.

Here is a closer look at what happened and why it has set off such a storm:

Why did Balogun receive a red card?

Balogun received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in a 2-0 win for the US in their round of 32 win on Wednesday, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.

The 25-year-old was sent off after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, with US coach Mauricio Pochettino saying it was never a red card offence.

Fans and commentators were divided on the original red card: While some felt it was justified, others argued that Balogun was off‑balance and made accidental contact rather than a deliberate stamp. On Friday, Balogun said he thought a yellow card instead of red “would have been fair”.

Ultimately, Trump intervened on his behalf and his red-card suspension was lifted in a decision that now allows him to play in a World Cup match against Belgium on Monday.

FIFA relied on Article 27 of disciplinary committee rules to reverse the ban.

“The judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure,” the rule states. “By suspending the implementation of the sanction, the judicial body subjects the person sanctioned to a probationary period of one to four years.”

The US Soccer Federation didn’t make Balogun available for comment Sunday, but the player posted a picture of himself in front of US fans and overlaid with music of Michael Jackson’s pop single “Bad”, on social media.

Has this happened before?

This is the first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup has not resulted in a suspension.

At the 1962 World Cup in Chile, star Brazilian player Garrincha received a red card during his team’s 4-2 semifinal win over hosts Chile. At the time, a red card did not lead to automatic suspension from the next game – a disciplinary panel would examine the evidence and decide on the punishment. In the case of Garrincha, the panel decided to let him off with a warning. Garrincha played in Brazil’s 3-1 final win against Czechoslovakia, as the South American football giants won their second World Cup in a row.

More recently, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was allowed to play his side’s opening World Cup matches after FIFA suspended the final two games of a three-match ban he had received last year after receiving a red card. Before he received the reprieve, he was poised to miss the first two games of the World Cup.

But on the other hand, Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo was handed a five-match ban after receiving a red card for a tackle which seriously injured Canada midfielder Ismael Kone during a group match at the tournament.

Monday’s match will now be played against the backdrop of a decision that has become one of the defining controversies of the tournament, with the debate over FIFA’s powers unlikely to end at the final whistle.

What were the reactions to the red card reversal?

The decision to suspend Balogun’s red card has ignited one of the tournament’s biggest controversies.

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “astonished,”.

“In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian federation said in a statement.

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked FIFA’s action. “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 in an April Fools’ Day comparison. “The Belgian federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team. She defends football in general, she defends her integrity, her ethics.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) — Europe’s top football body — released a statement on Monday saying: “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 UEFA statement added: “We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”

Former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, who led the organisation from 1998 to 2015, also criticised the body’s decision.

“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies,” he wrote on X. “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: Quo vadis, FIFA?”

Other football professionals weighed in on the row.

“What about the next red card? What happens then?” Norway coach Stale Solbakken said. “It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel wondered whether more decisions going forward could be challenged, including whether yellow cards could be overturned for England’s Declan Rice and France’s Michael Olise.

Tuchel said he believed Balogun did not deserve a red card, but questioned the decision to suspend his punishment, having just seen his defender Jarell Quansah get sent off in his side’s 3-2 last-16 win over Mexico on Sunday.

“I think first of all to be very clear that it is not a red card (for Balogun). But VAR got involved and obviously three people from VAR checked it and were of the opinion that it was a red card. So the decision is made,” Tuchel told reporters at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium.

“Who overturns this decision then and when? And on what grounds? How far does this go now? This is strange for me… Where does this start and where does this end?”

Football pundits rebuked FIFA’s decision while speaking to British television network ITV.

Former England footballer Ian Wright said: “We’re talking about integrity, people talking about transparency, but you look at some of the things that’s happened in this tournament with certain teams, it’s been it’s shameful how things can happen, especially as an American player, whether he’s guilty of what he’s done, whether we think he shouldn’t have got it or not. Some of the things that’s happened in this World Cup have been shameful.”

“It seems unfair because it is unfair,” Irish former professional footballer and television pundit Roy Keane said.

What was Trump’s role in all this?

Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino after the game asking FIFA to review the red card, the Associated Press reported. AP cited a person familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote in a statement on social media.

US coach Mauricio Pochettino applauded FIFA’s move.

“We were punished enough against Bosnia-Herzegovina to play with 10 men (for) 30 minutes in a decision that was completely unfair,” he said, referring to the fact that after Balogun was sent off following the red card, the US team had to play with one less player for the rest of the match.

Pochettino, who played for Argentina in the 2002 World Cup, was not surprised Trump decided to call Infantino.

“I came from a culture, Argentina or Europe, that football, soccer is a religion, more than the religion,” he said. “If we keep going, pushing on, maybe one step more tomorrow you will see that the sport is magic, that the sport is amazing, is so powerful, unite people, unite a country like us.”