AS Monaco of France striker, Folarin Balogun has US president, Donald J. Trump to thank for the intervention that ovdertuned a red received by the Nigerian-born former Arsenal of Englnad hitman at the ongoing FIFA 2026 World Cup.
Sports247 reports that Balogun was injitially meant to miss USA’s round of 16 fixture versus Belgium on Tueday morning, but Trump”s personal call to FIFA president, Giovanni Infantino occasioned a change of rules by the global body.
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Balogun, who is USA’s top scorer at this Mundial (with three goals), got a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Bosnia-Herzegovina defender, Tarik Muharemović in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday, thereby triggering an automatic one-game suspension.
However, he is now available to feature against The Red Devils in the round of 16, following a shock decision by FIFA to suspend the player’s red card, with a warning that the punishment would be recalled should he run foul of the rules again.
An official announcement late Sunday indicated that the red card will remain suspended for a year and the player is now elligible to play against Belgium, much to Trump’s delight, and he posted his appreciation via social media, stating: “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice.”
Sports247 reports further that FIFA’s announcement has been unanimously tagged ‘an extraordinary move’ and it drew immediate outrage from Belgium, as it is the first time since 1962 that a red card has been overturned days after a match during the World Cup.
The first time it happened was 1962 abd the player involved at that time was Brazil’s Garrincha, whilst FIFA’s decision to shorten Cristiano Ronaldo’s three-match ban earlier this year has also been used as a reference.
The global governing body explained that it opted to provisionally lift the ban by invoking Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which stipulates that “the judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”
The statement read in full: “In line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year.
“If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”
However, amidst reports that Trump actually called Infantino with a plea for FIFA to review the red card, Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) released a formal statement to express astonishment, while their coach, Rudi Garcia mocked the football governing body’s action.
“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 is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian federation stated.
Garcia added: “I didn’t know that in the offices of FIFA the fifth of July was the first of April in Europe. I think it’s the first time in the history of the World Cup that there is this kind of decision.”
On the other hand, USMNT manager, Mauricio Pochettino described FIFA’s decision as a celebration, poining out that is side had already suffered enough against Bosnia by going down to 10 men, and posited that the reversal was fair.
Pochettino stated: “My reaction is like everyone, I really love the sport and trust the ethics and integrity. We celebrate this decision. We were punished enough against Bosnia to play 30 minutes with 10 men.
“It was completely unfair. I need to defend my side. It is 99.9%, we all agree it was an unfair red card. I think we need to celebrate. It is fair, the decision. We don’t need to punish more. It was enough. It opens up the possibility to repair a little bit the bad decisions.”
