Balogun cleared to play: FIFA freezes red-card ban after Trump call to Infantino
FIFA suspended Folarin Balogun's automatic one-match ban after Donald Trump reportedly asked Gianni Infantino to review it. Belgium and UEFA call the decision unprecedented.
The 2026 World Cup has its first proper off-pitch storm — and it goes all the way to the top. FIFA has suspended the automatic ban hanging over Folarin Balogun, sent off in the United States’ last match, meaning the striker can play against Belgium in Monday’s round-of-16 tie in Seattle after all. In between sit a phone call from Donald Trump to Gianni Infantino, and a European football establishment at boiling point.
What did FIFA decide on Balogun’s red card?
The Disciplinary Committee suspended the one-match ban for a probationary period of one year — in practice, Balogun is available immediately and only serves the suspension if he reoffends. He had been shown a straight red for a heavy challenge in the 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which under the written rules means automatically missing the next game. In more than sixty years of World Cup football, this is the first time a red card hasn’t cost a player the following match.
Did Trump really call Infantino?
According to sources cited across the American press, the US president phoned FIFA’s president on Wednesday and asked him to review the case — then publicly cheered the decision when it landed. Trump and Infantino have kept a famously warm relationship throughout a tournament played largely on American soil, and it’s exactly that closeness now under the spotlight.
Why are Belgium and UEFA furious?
Belgium’s football association says it is “astonished,” argues the decision flouts FIFA’s own written rules, and is weighing an appeal. UEFA went further, calling it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and warning that “a red line” had been crossed — the one separating politics from the game. American fans, meanwhile, are doing simpler maths: their top scorer is back for a knockout tie.
Whatever happens on the pitch tonight, the precedent stands — and it will echo long after the final whistle.
See also: who’s already in the quarters and who’s still fighting. FIFA’s disciplinary code lives at fifa.com and Europe’s response at uefa.com.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
