Дэлхийн аваргын хүрээнд зохион байгуулагдсан арга хэмжээний үеэр АНУ-ын ерөнхийлөгч Дональд Трамп ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Жанни Инфантиныг Фоларин Балогуны улаан хуудсыг цуцалж, тоглох эрхийг сэргээсэн шийдвэрийг нь магтан сайшаав.
Балогун Босни ба Херцеговины эсрэг тоглолтод улаан хуудас авснаар нэг тоглолтын торгууль хүлээсэн ч, Трамп Инфантин руу утасдаж гомдол гаргасны дараа ФИФА-гийн сахилгын хороо уг шийтгэлийг түдгэлзүүлсэн юм. Трамп үүнийг Инфантины гаргасан оновчтой шийдвэрүүдийн нэг хэмээн тодотгосон бол Инфантино уг тэмцээнийг амжилттай зохион байгуулахад АНУ-ын ерөнхийлөгчийн хувь нэмэр асар их байсныг цохон тэмдэглэлээ.
Уулзалтын үеэр Трамп Английн шигшээ багийн дасгалжуулагч Томас Тухелийн хагас шигшээ тоглолтод баримталсан хамгаалалтын тактикийг шүүмжилж, Харри Кэйнийг хамгаалалтад шилжүүлсэн нь алдаа байсан гэв. Тэрээр мөн Лионель Месси, Криштиану Роналду нарын ур чадварыг онцолж, 2030 оны Дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээнийг 64 багтай болгон өргөжүүлэх боломжийн талаар хэлэлцсэн байна.
ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Инфантино тэмцээний зохион байгуулалттай холбоотой улс төрийн шүүмжлэл болон зарим улс орны баг тамирчдын визний хүндрэлийн талаар дурссангүй. Тэмцээний финал Нью-Жерсид болох бөгөөд Трамп ялагч багт цомыг гардуулахад оролцох юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The United States president Donald Trump praised Gianni Infantino for “another great decision” by enabling Folarin Balogun to have a one-game ban suspended, which followed a call by Trump to the FIFA president about the U.S. forward’s red card and led to a major World Cup controversy.
During an appearance at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Friday — in which neither Trump nor Infantino took questions from the media — both men delivered their reflections on the tournament. It was a remarkable twenty-five minutes in which the U.S. president also criticized the defensive tactics of England coach Thomas Tuchel in the semi-final defeat against Argentina and the pair also discussed expanding the World Cup to 64 teams before the next men’s edition in 2030.
FIFA and Trump co-hosted a reception at Trump Tower before Sunday’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. FIFA has an office in Trump Tower for which it pays rent to the Trump family business.
Infantino appeared to suggest those in attendance for the broadcast included global heads of states, soccer federation executives, FIFA Council members and ex-players he describes as FIFA Legends. The White House press pool was in attendance but there were no questions taken by Infantino or Trump after a tournament which has included multiple moments of high controversy.
As of Friday evening, FIFA has not announced any closing press conference where media will be afforded opportunities to ask Infantino questions. Infantino did not appear at prior publicized media appearance with the former England defender Rio Ferdinand at Fanatics Festival earlier on Friday. The event had been on the schedule earlier this week but then disappeared by Friday morning, with FIFA then saying no event had ever been planned.
Trump praised Infantino for Balogun being able to play (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The appearance at Trump Tower began with Trump and Infantino standing at the front of the room as Lee Greenwood’s God Bless The U.S.A. played, which is a song often used as Trump’s walk-out anthem at his rallies. The appearance ended with Village People’s Y.M.C.A, also often played at Trump rallies.
Infantino was first to speak, telling Trump they had “exceeded all expectations” with the World Cup and, in doing so, said that the FIFA president had fulfilled a promise made to Trump in the summer of 2018, shortly after the bid was secured during Trump’s first term in the White House. Infantino praised Trump: “You told me America would welcome the world and you did welcome the world. Everyone who came here enjoyed it and everyone who stayed home enjoyed it.”
Infantino made no mention of the U.S. decision to block the Somali FIFA referee Omar Artan from entering the country, with administration officials alleging this was due to “association with suspected members of terror organizations.” Infantino responded at a pre-tournament press conference by asserting America’s right to protect its borders, adding: “It is important sometimes to chill, relax.”
Infantino also made no mention of the difficulties raised by Iran’s national team during the competition, with the team’s captain Mehdi Taremi having described the tournament as a “disaster” in its organization due to the restrictions on visas and movement for his team. Four competing World Cup nations — Iran, Haiti, Senegal and Ivory Coast — are under travel bans, meaning fans were limited in their travel. “I think that every team can have their people, so I don’t understand why people from Africa cannot have their people,” said Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly to The Athletic during the group stage.
Infantino then described FIFA, as ever, as “the official happiness provider of humanity.” Trump interrupted: “Unless the team loses.”
Infantino then went into overdrive. “All this would not have been possible, and I say this because its the truth, because you don’t need people to compliment you Mr. President, this World Cup would not have been such an incredible success without you.” Infantino then encouraged the room to applaud Trump. “This is the greatest human, social and cultural event mankind has ever witnessed. For this, I thank you. One country will be world champion but the world has already won, America has won, FIFA has won,” Infantino said.
The challenge for which Balogun received a red card (Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Trump then took the microphone and moved the conversation onto Balogun’s red card. Balogun had been dismissed in the U.S.’s 2-0 round-of-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game ban, which multiple FIFA officials had told The Athletic and many other media outlets could not be appealed.
But just a day before the USMNT faced Belgium at Lumen Field in Seattle, The Athletic revealed Balogun would, in fact, be available. This was later confirmed by statements from FIFA and Trump would later say he had made a phone call to Infantino to ask for the case to be reviewed. Balogun was then made eligible to face Belgium after FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the sanction, but the committee has not explained the reason for this decision, which triggered widespread accusations of political interference in the World Cup. Infantino denied this.
At Trump Tower on Friday, the U.S. president said: “This has been a tournament like no other. Filled with fierce competition, unforgettable moments — probably the most unforgettable is when they gave that gentleman… Is it a red card?”
Trump then teased: “I was forced to call Gianni and just make a recommendation. I said, ‘Gianni, I’d like to make a recommendation. Let the guy in the game.’
Trump added: “No, I didn’t say that. I said, ‘I’d like to wage a complaint.’ And actually, I didn’t, I had no idea what was going to happen, but it’s so much better the way it worked out because there’s no controversy. They (Belgium) won the game and our team had all of its players. You (Gianni) made another great decision if you think about it. I know you’ll never get credit. But if he (Gianni) didn’t allow him (Balogun), then the (USMNT) would say ‘We would have won the game if we had our best players.’ So Gianni made yet another of his many good decisions.”
At one point, Infantino appeared to meekly protest and mouth that he did not make the decision, but it was barely audible.
During Trump’s remarks, he said he wanted to thank “our great FIFA president, Gianni, there is nobody like him.”
He also ran through some of the biggest names in the tournament, praising Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s passing ability. He described him as one of those players “born with something extra special.” He said Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo was another of the same ilk. “I got to know him over those years and he’s a great guy,” he said.
He added: “You have a great player in England, who I played golf with — Harry (Kane).” Then Trump appeared to criticize Tuchel’s decision to apply caution when his team were leading against Argentina in the semi-final.
“I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him (Kane) a defensive player,” Trump said. “They took the lead, they took their best player and put him on defense. We gotta be a little bit offensive, right? What do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual. Harry is a great guy!”
He also expressed shock at France’s 2-0 semi-final defeat by Spain. “They seemed to be unbeatable and then they didn’t beat Spain. It can happen in life. You’re hot as a pistol and then you’re not so hot. But I wouldn’t know about a thing like that.”
He also referenced his father-in-law Viktor Knavs, an 82-year-old Slovenian businessman, who was present at the event and who he described as a once great soccer player, before also explaining how much his son Barron Trump, aged 20, loves the sport. He described Barron as “my very tall son” and expressed concerns that a faster player from Argentina, Spain, France or England could cause him problems with speed. “He’ll never get by me,” Trump said his son explains to him. “Speed, I think, is quite important in this sport,” Trump added. Infantino nodded.
Trump then said Infantino had told him that FIFA is considering expanding the competition by 16 teams for the next World Cup, up from 48 this time around. “I understand you may be making it even larger next time,” Trump said. Infantino said his organization is examining the issue. Trump encouraged Infantino to choose the U.S. for another World Cup. “This time we’ll leave Mexico and Canada out,” Trump laughed.
Trump also said — and he may have been joking, but it was not entirely clear — that Infantino had another idea. “He said we could do it China and the United States for next time. So you have a nice short flight in between games.”
Trump joked: “The players would love that.”
Trump concluded by saying the World Cup had proved this to be a “golden age of America” and that people who had visited the country did not know what to think before arriving.
“In fact, the people that came, they’re going to be coming back, maybe permanently.”
Trump will attend the World Cup final on Sunday and Infantino has already said the U.S. president will jointly hand the trophy to the winner of the competition.
The latest appearance will do little to quell criticism of Infantino, who is standing currently unopposed for re-election as FIFA president. Fifty members of the European Parliament (MEPs) wrote to FIFA after the Balogun saga to demand that the organization address an ethics complaint made against its President Gianni Infantino over his decision to award the U.S. President Donald Trump the FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025.
An official complaint was submitted in December to FIFA’s Ethics Committee, alleging “repeated breaches” of FIFA’s duty of political neutrality by Infantino, while also requesting an investigation into the process that saw Trump receive the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body which has long been at odds with FIFA, described the Balogun decision as “incomprehensible” and having “crossed a red line”.
