Geneva | Furor at the World Cup saw Belgium tackle FIFA's ruling not to enforce a ban from Monday's game of United States forward Folarin Balogun, and U.S. President Donald Trump claim credit for swaying the soccer body's leader.
The on-field integrity of soccer's biggest event came under a shocking attack in what seemed a blatant case of political interference. A strict reading of FIFA statutes could see the U.S. suspended from the global game.
Trump defended calling FIFA President Gianni Infantino, saying he merely pointed out a “horrible” decision by a referee to issue Balogun a red card last Wednesday for an illegal tackle on a Bosnia-Herzegovina player when the U.S. won in the round of 32.
“All I did was ask for a review. I didn't think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters Monday at the White House about lobbying Infantino, a close ally, not to impose a one-game ban on Balogun that is mandatory in soccer laws.
What has flared into an all-time controversy in the World Cup's 96-year history was raging just hours ahead of the U.S.-Belgium match in Seattle with a quarterfinals place at stake.
The Belgian soccer federation said it was “deeply concerned” in a statement that showed clear frustration with FIFA at what seemed to be a lack of good faith in shaping an urgent legal process to appeal the Balogun ruling.
European soccer body UEFA earlier criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” that it said “crossed a red line” by not enforcing Balogun's mandatory one-game ban.
FIFA's ruling Sunday — to defer Balogun's ban for one year of probation — deviated from soccer's traditional rule of law and drew stinging criticism globally including from former World Cup stars and coaches at this tournament.
“It's a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup,” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said Sunday after his team beat Brazil to reach the quarterfinals.
UEFA, whose member federations include Belgium, insisted: “Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.
“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,” said UEFA, which has often clashed with Infantino during his decade in FIFA power.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” said UEFA, where Infantino was its CEO-like general secretary from 2009 until being elected to lead FIFA in February 2016.
FIFA was asked Monday to comment on the UEFA criticism.
Infantino's predecessor Sepp Blatter, who was forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media: “Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”
Belgium's legal optionsBelgian officials prepared an appeal in Seattle through the night into Monday to get a hearing with a FIFA-appointed appeals judge. They said FIFA had not provided documents key to filing a valid appeal.
The round of 16 game against the U.S. is due to kick off at 5 p.m. local time.
“Regardless of the sporting outcome of the match,” the Belgian federation said, "(we are) deeply concerned by the way these events have unfolded and will continue, in the hours, days and months ahead, to pursue every available avenue to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, sporting fairness and the interests of football as a whole.”
Soccer rules require teams ultimately judged to have fielded an ineligible player to default the game as a 3-0 loss. Belgium must first appeal to FIFA and then to the Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Balogun's tackleBalogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during a 2-0 win for the U.S. in the round of 32.
That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.
Still, similar challenges by star players have gone unpunished at this World Cup — by Argentina's Lionel Messi against Algeria and Morocco's Achraf Hakimi vs. Brazil. Bernardo Silva of Portugal got just a yellow card against Congo.
“I think a yellow card would have been fair,” Balogun later suggested.
FIFA's interventionsThis World Cup has been remarkable for FIFA under Infantino seeming to rewrite the norms of disciplinary action even before the tournament began.
A pattern of pardons opened FIFA to suggestions of executive intervention in the statutory independence of its judicial bodies, including the disciplinary committee that formally reprieved Balogun.
Cristiano Ronaldo was cleared to play in Portugal's opening World Cup game despite getting a red card for serious foul play in a qualifying game against Ireland last November. He struck an opponent with an elbow.
Ronaldo served his mandatory ban in Portugal's final qualifying game but he was reprieved from an expected two-game ban because FIFA introduced the idea of probation. An imposed three-game ban was less meaningful as two games were deferred during a one-year probationary period.
At the opening game on June 11, South Africa's Themba Zwane got a red card against Mexico for a similar offense to Ronaldo's and FIFA imposed a three-game ban with no probation. Zwane did not play again at the World Cup.
Three players sent off in their teams' qualifying games last year were surprisingly told by FIFA in May they could serve their bans in a future competition instead of at the World Cup, which was the long-standing norm.
Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo, Argentina defender Nicolás Otamendi and Qatar defender Tarek Salman all had their bans waived for the World Cup.
Washington | President Donald Trump on Monday took credit for getting FIFA to review a red card issued against the United States' star forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup but said he did not demand an outcome.
“All I did was ask for a review,” Trump said when asked about it during an unrelated Oval Office event. “I didn't say, You have to do this.'”
Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for a second look at the punishment against Balogun in the United States' 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. But he said FIFA made the final call to lift Balogun's mandatory one-game ban for a foul tackle, allowing him to play in Monday's round of 16 match with Belgium in Seattle.
FIFA's decision to suspend the one-game ban was celebrated by many in the United States but brought condemnation in the international sports world, where some called it an outrageous intrusion. The Belgian soccer federation is challenging Balogun's eligibility for Monday's match, and the UEFA soccer body in Europe called FIFA's move “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”
Trump criticizes the referee's red card call
In remarks on Monday, Trump called the referee's decision a “horrible” call. He added that it would have been a stain on the tournament if Balogun, the U.S.' leading scorer at this year's World Cup with three goals, was held out against Belgium and the U.S. lost. He praised FIFA for making what he described as a brilliant decision in suspending the punishment.
“I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”
The Republican president, who said he understands sports “really well,” acknowledged that he did not initially know what a red card is or the consequences it brings. When he learned it would lead to a one-game suspension for Balogun, he said, he decided to step in. He also took issue with the use of video review to issue the red card, arguing that slowed-down reviews can make plays look more aggressive.
“Belgium has got a great team,” Trump said. “We have to have our best players, and they have to have their best. And if we win or we lose, it's fair.”
FIFA president defends the decision process
Soon after Trump addressed the controversy, Infantino issued a statement detailing his call with Trump and defending the independence of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
“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,” Infantino said in a statement on X. “That is how FIFA's system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold."
Trump's Oval Office event focused on new investment accounts for U.S. children, and he immediately sought to deflect attention away from the World Cup controversy. “They don't want to know anything about soccer slash football,” he said of reporters gathered in the Oval Office. “Fortunately, they won't be asking any questions on that. Nobody cares about that, right?”
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who joined Trump at the event, turned attention back to the red card. "On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” Cruz said during his remarks. “It was spectacular.”
Pressed on the extent of his role, Trump said that he made his case to Infantino but that “I didn't tell him what to do, I can't tell him what to do.”
Separately on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was the right decision to lift the punishment for Balogun.
In rare comments during a photo op ahead of his meeting with Chile's foreign minister, Rubio questioned why Belgium would want to win a match “if everyone will argue you didn't really win it because their best, or their leading, scorer was not on the pitch.”
He joked that it was becoming an “international incident” ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey this week.
How did Balogun get the red card?
The foul against Balogun was called after he planted his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during their round of 32 match. Brazilian referee Raphael Claus didn't initially signal a card, but a slow-motion review resulted in the red card.
Balogun later said he thought a yellow card, a formal warning, would have been fair.
FIFA's decision drew quick rebuke on Sunday from Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, who said it sounded like an April Fools' Day joke. Meanwhile U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino applauded FIFA's move, saying his team was punished enough by losing Balogun for the remainder of last week's game.
As the drama played out on the pitch last week, it was immediately clear from the perspective of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House FIFA Task Force leader Andrew Giuliani and Trump administration officials that the process used to issue the red card to Balogun was improper.
Discussions over the red card and what to do about it dominated the flight from Santa Clara back to Washington. The consensus of the group, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the talks, was simply: that the slo-mo replay was improper, so shouldn't the red card be nullified?
The next day, Trump officials continued to dig into the rules, consult lawyers and speak with U.S. Soccer about the matter, according to the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.