Three weeks into the FIFA World Cup and, predictably, it’s become less about the players and more about the man who seems determined to make every tournament his own: FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
It’s not just that TV cameras appear to find Infantino at every opportunity, cutting to him in the stands almost as often as they do the action on the pitch. Increasingly, there’s a perception that his influence stretches far beyond the VIP box and into the game itself.
That perception only intensified on Thursday when USA striker Folarin Balogun was sent off after accidentally catching Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic on the ankle during the Americans’ Round of 32 victory.
The dismissal carried an automatic one-match suspension, ruling out one of the USMNT’s biggest attacking threats for Monday night’s blockbuster last-16 showdown with Belgium in Seattle. Balogun, 25, has already scored three goals at this World Cup and losing him appeared to be a major blow to USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s hopes of keeping America’s dream alive.
With no mechanism for overturning a red card once it has been issued during the tournament, it appeared that Pochettino would be forced into a major tactical rethink for the biggest game of the competition so far.
Then came an intervention that changed the entire conversation.
President Donald Trump became involved in the situation, and reports suggested that a call from the President to Infantino played a decisive role in the suspension of Balogun’s ban, clearing the way for the attacker to feature against Belgium.
‘Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social following the decision.
The FIFA World Cup has become less about the players and more about the man who seems determined to make every tournament his own: FIFA President Gianni Infantino
USA striker Folarin Balogun was sent off after accidentally catching Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic on the ankle during the Americans’ Round of 32 victory
President Donald Trump became involved in the situation, and reports suggested that a call from the President to Infantino (l) played a decisive role in the suspension of Balogun’s ban following the player’s scuffle with Muharemovic
For USMNT supporters, it was a moment of relief and celebration.
For many other soccer fans across the football world, it was something else entirely, a decision that raised serious questions about consistency, process and the integrity of disciplinary rules at the highest level.
Belgium is now, predictably, appealing the ruling, though I put the chances of another FIFA reversal about even with Switzerland winning it all.
And just watch what happens when Balogun scores the go-ahead goal. All hell will break loose. Perhaps that’s most damaging of all, the impression this flippancy creates.
But should anyone really be surprised by how this has played out?
After all, FIFA — and Gianni Infantino — has long faced scrutiny over the way disciplinary processes are interpreted, applied, or occasionally bent, especially when high-profile names are involved.
One example frequently cited is the case of Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who was shown a red card for violent conduct against the Republic of Ireland in November 2025. Under standard procedure, that dismissal would typically have carried a three-match suspension, potentially ruling him out of Portugal’s opening World Cup fixture against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Houston on June 17.
However, Ronaldo ultimately avoided serving the full suspension after FIFA’s disciplinary structures intervened and applied Article 17 of the organization’s code — a rarely used provision that allows for sanctions to be adjusted in exceptional circumstances.
Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday morning to praise FIFA for ‘doing what was right’
Belgium is now, predictably, appealing the ruling that overturned Balogun’s suspension (Pictured) Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia (left) with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (right) in Seattle
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, was shown a red card for violent conduct against the Republic of Ireland in November 2025; Ronaldo ultimately avoided serving the full suspension
At the time, the decision was already controversial in some quarters of the game.
Now, in the context of the Balogun case, it has resurfaced as part of a wider debate about consistency and transparency at the very top of world football. And it is that wider pattern, or at least the perception of it, that will concern soccer fans: the sense that, in modern FIFA, no decision ever feels entirely beyond influence.
Besides, it’s hugely hypocritical too.
Ever since he became president of FIFA 2016, Infantino has been at pains to say how politics shouldn’t have any place in soccer, despite regularly turning up at the Oval Office or attending event like the Summit for Peace held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in October 2025, alongside 20 world leaders.
So don’t blame Donald Trump for getting this red card overturned – blame Gianni Infantino.
It’s his endless grandstanding and courting of the President that has led directly to this.
Since Trump returned to office, Infantino has spent extraordinary time and energy cozying up to the President, even creating a new ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ which Trump accepted just weeks before green-lighting military attacks on Venezuela and, more recently, Iran.
Even former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, a man mired in controversy and corruption allegations during his 17-year tenure as president, took to social media to voice his concerns.
‘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?,’ he posted.
‘Football must never become a playground for political power.’
But that ship, in my opinion, has long since sailed.
FIFA has a long history of sidestepping political controversy – remember the corruption clouds over the World Cups in Russia 2018 or the human rights protests at Qatar 2022?
This time, though, there is no hiding – especially for Infantino.
Don’t blame Donald Trump for getting this red card overturned – blame Gianni Infantino (Pictured: Infantino and Trump in June)
By appearing to kowtow to Trump, Infantino may have thought it guaranteed FIFA a smooth and successful World Cup but it’s a decision that will come back to bite him and FIFA.
And it’s only going to get worse.
What if it happens again? What if the USMNT lose to a controversial goal against Belgium in this evening? Will the Donald Trump and the White House be on the FIFA hotline again?
The noble thing, of course, would be for Mauricio Pochettino to leave Balogun out of the match against Belgium but that won’t be happen, not when he’s the USMNT’s biggest goal threats.
But power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
No doubt, American soccer fans are jubilant, and not only for having their star player back, but for recognizing that their country finally understands how the beautiful game is played – off the field.
Whether or not Infantino directly influenced the decision to overturn Balogun’s red card, the perception that FIFA’s president holds enough sway to shape disciplinary outcomes is deeply damaging, especially when all it appears to have taken was a phone call from the White House.
Football depends on trust in its institutions, and when that trust is eroded, the game’s integrity suffers.
For the good of the sport, Infantino should step aside before confidence in FIFA is lost altogether.
