According to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a phone call from President Trump following the United States’ victory over Bosnia—which secured the team’s place in the tournament quarterfinals—was entirely routine.
The two frequently discuss the World Cup, Infantino noted. Yet that conversation triggered one of the most significant crises in the competition’s 96-year history and further undermined confidence in FIFA’s stance as a neutral governor of the world’s most popular sport.
Trump, by his own account, was viewing the match on television and was incensed to discover that the team’s leading striker, Folarin Balogun, would be sidelined for the quarterfinal against Belgium after a red card issued by a Brazilian referee following an on-field review. The president viewed the ruling as an injustice requiring correction and knew precisely whom to contact.
“All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said, characterizing the call as a commonplace action rather than one whose fallout has raised profound suspicions about the integrity of a global sporting event.
Soccer’s regulations regarding red cards are unambiguous and broadly accepted. Regardless of perceived harshness, the player is subject to an automatic one-match suspension. Nonetheless, when FIFA announced on Sunday that Balogun would be exempted, many observers interpreted the move as akin to a presidential pardon.
FIFA, an organization long embroiled in controversy, has defended itself through legalistic references to process and committee structures, asserting that both Trump and Infantino were merely interested parties to a ruling made by an independent committee beyond even the president’s influence.
“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. “That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”
That framework has long been faulted as lacking transparency. With backing from the White House, U.S. Soccer constructed an argument that liberated Balogun from a suspension that no other player sent off during this World Cup had managed to avoid. The committee, led by Mohammad Al Kamali—a relatively obscure lawyer from the United Arab Emirates—comprises 18 members from nations including Colombia, Tonga, Paraguay, and Vietnam.
On Monday, FIFA released a statement attributed to “the chairperson of the FIFA disciplinary committee”—without naming Al Kamali—that enumerated 13 points yet failed to clarify why Balogun’s red card, though sustained, warranted a deferred one-match ban instead of an immediate one. The message noted that the committee “has the discretion to suspend any disciplinary measure.”
The committee’s debates occur in private, although sensitive matters are escalated to senior FIFA leadership, including Infantino, prior to publication of decisions. Committee members also receive stipends and benefits such as luxury travel for their FIFA duties.
Miguel Maduro, the first head of governance at FIFA appointed by Infantino, argued that the committees cannot be truly autonomous “under the current FIFA rules where they are ultimately selected by and dependent upon those whom they ought to control and be independent from.”
“This is the reality at FIFA,” Maduro added. “They use the word independence, like they use the word peace, human rights or accountability. They use all the right words but have in place no governance instruments to give actual meaning to those words. It’s performative. Window dressing.”
Infantino has depicted himself as largely detached from the process. “I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued,” he said. “Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.”
Trump likewise sought to dismiss allegations of favoritism.
“I don’t believe he made the decision,” he said of Infantino. “I think it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision because, number one, it wasn’t a foul.”
Balogun’s case has no modern parallel at a World Cup, a circumstance that has angered not only Belgium but also soccer officials, coaches, and politicians worldwide. Compounding the frustration, a separate FIFA appeals committee deemed Belgium’s request to reconsider the ruling inadmissible.
It has also intensified examination of the relationship between Infantino and Trump, which appears to have influenced on-field affairs, and threatens to overshadow the FIFA president’s bid for a renewed four-year term next year.
A wave of criticism has emerged from across Europe.
“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,” UEFA, Europe’s governing soccer body, said in a statement. “We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Infantino’s rapport with President Trump had already drawn rebuke. Lise Klaveness, head of Norway’s soccer federation, previously accused Infantino of violating FIFA’s political neutrality rules when he presented a newly created FIFA peace prize to Trump in December. She reiterated that critique on Monday.
“Such a suspension is not subject to appeal,” Klaveness said in a statement. “When FIFA nevertheless clears the player to participate in the next match without providing any explanation, there is reason for concern regarding the integrity of the competition, political interference in sporting matters, and the credibility of football.”
The German Football Association concurred. “The impression that there has been active political interference in sport must be dispelled swiftly and conclusively,” it said in a statement. “The integrity of the competition and the credibility of FIFA are at stake.”
Amid the backlash, Infantino has maintained that no impropriety occurred, insisting that “independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”