АНУ-ын шигшээ багийн довтлогч Фоларин Балогун Босни ба Херцеговины эсрэг тоглолтод улаан хуудас авсны улмаас нэг тоглолт өнжих шийтгэл хүлээгээд байсан ч ФИФА-гийн сахилгын хороо уг шийдвэрээ цуцалснаар Бельгийн эсрэг талбайд гарах боломжтой боллоо. Энэхүү шийдвэр гарахын өмнөхөн АНУ-ын Ерөнхийлөгч Дональд Трамп ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Жанни Инфантинотой утсаар ярьж, уг асуудлыг эргэн харахыг хүссэн нь олон улсын хэмжээнд ихээхэн шүүмжлэл дагуулж байна.
Өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт АНУ-ын хөлбөмбөгийн холбооноос Фоларин Балогуны улаан хуудсыг эсэргүүцэн албан ёсны гомдол гаргаж, ВАР-ын үйл ажиллагаа болон шүүгчийн шийдвэр буруу байсныг нотлох баримтуудыг хүргүүлсэн юм. Хэдийгээр ФИФА-гийн дүрмээр улаан хуудсыг давж заалдах боломжгүй ч сахилгын хороо Балогуны торгуулийг түдгэлзүүлсэн нь хөлбөмбөгийн ертөнцөд урьд өмнө байгаагүй шийдвэр боллоо.
Бельгийн шигшээ багийн дасгалжуулагч Руди Гарсиа ФИФА-гийн энэхүү шийдвэрийг хурцаар шүүмжилж, хөлбөмбөгийн ёс зүй болон шударга өрсөлдөөний зарчим алдагдсаныг онцолсон байна. Мөн Уэйн Рүүни, Гари Невилл зэрэг хөлбөмбөгийн экспертүүд энэ үйлдлийг ёс зүйгүй, хөлбөмбөгийн нэр хүндийг гутаасан үйл явдал хэмээн тодорхойллоо.
ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Жанни Инфантино болон Дональд Трамп нарын харилцаа нь улс төрийн төвийг сахих зарчмыг зөрчиж байна гэсэн хардлагыг олон нийтийн дунд үүсгээд байгаа юм. Европын парламентын гишүүд болон Норвегийн хөлбөмбөгийн холбооноос ФИФА-гийн сахилгын хорооны бие даасан байдалд эргэлзэж, уг асуудлыг нарийвчлан шалгахыг шаардаж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
President Donald Trump has been an elusive figure throughout the World Cup.
That was until the middle of last week, when he picked up the phone to call Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, to ask for a review into the one-game suspension facing Folarin Balogun after his red card after fouling Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic.
On Sunday, The Athletic exclusively revealed Balogun will be available for the USMNT’s round of 16 tie against Belgium in Seattle, after FIFA’s independent disciplinary committee decided to suspend his ban.
President Trump was quick to react to the extraordinary development on Truth Social, thanking FIFA “for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”, before it then emerged that he had discussed the Balogun red card with Infantino earlier in the week, as first reported by AP and the New York Times. A White House spokesperson subsequently confirmed toThe Athletic that this was the case.
The Athletic has spoken to multiple sources familiar with the situation to build a picture of how Balogun’s reprieve, one of the most controversial decisions in the history of the World Cup, was made over five extraordinary days.
Trump’s phone call to Infantino was not the only intervention in the affair from the administration. Lawyers were recruited by the administration, in tandem with Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, and Scott Goodwin, a donor to U.S. Soccer and hedge fund manager. As first reported by the journalist Clay Travis on X, these legal materials were sent on to U.S. Soccer.
Goodwin, who assisted U.S. Soccer in raising funds to cover Pochettino’s salary, responded on X to say: “The media is dramatically overstating the involvement of ANYONE outside of US Soccer and its legal team in this process. Like 300 million other Americans I was p—– off by the red card call and inspired by the team’s response to it. I reached out to US Soccer (like many others did) and was told they were engaged in the process with the FIFA Independent Disciplinary Committee and that process needed to run its course.”
Lutnick had been seated beside Infantino during the Bosnia match, while Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, told reporters in the White House briefing room on Thursday that the USMNT “got screwed with that red card” and even called for “an appeal process”.
Folarin Balogun was shown a red card for this foul on Tarik Muharemovic (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, was also actively engaged in the process, working with the lawyers and also seeking updates from FIFA and U.S. Soccer.
For FIFA and its president Infantino, it is the latest instance of questions being raised over his relationship with Trump. According to FIFA’s statutes, its participants must abide by political neutrality and political interference is not permitted in its processes.
Most famously, Infantino personally invented a FIFA Peace Prize to award to Trump at the World Cup draw in December, after Trump had been overlooked after campaigning to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Infantino’s FIFA also opened an office in Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, meaning that the organization is paying rent to premises owned by the Trump family. FIFA even altered its plans to host the World Cup draw in Las Vegas, after Trump suggested to Infantino that the event be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., a performing arts venue that Trump and his allies took over following his return to power in January 2025.
At the draw, Infantino presented the U.S. President with a large trophy, a medal and a certificate for the Peace Prize, as well as organising the Village People to sing Y.M.C.A, which has become Trump’s personal anthem, at the end of the draw. All of this will combine to raise suspicions, even if it is unknown at this stage how much consideration or weighting FIFA may have given to Trump’s intervention.
Some have raised concerns previously. An official complaint was submitted in December to FIFA’s Ethics Committee by FairSquare, a non-profit organisation and advocacy group which focuses mainly on global labour migration rights, political repression and sport. Fifty members of the European Parliament (MEPs) wrote to FIFA last week to demand that the organization address the complaint, which has also been supported by the Norwegian Football Federation.
Ultimately, per multiple sources familiar with the process, a body of work was submitted by U.S. Soccer to FIFA which would culminate in one of the most extraordinary and controversial decisions the world governing body has ever made within a tournament.
No sooner had the USMNT beaten Bosnia than the federation’s lawyers were searching for ways to ensure Balogun, who has three goals and as many assists at the World Cup, would be available to play.
As is standard practice for sports teams and organisations, they also called on their own access to external lawyers to help them ascertain whether they had a case.
The issue staring them in the face, however, was that, as per FIFA’s rulebook, a red card is an automatic one-game suspension and there are no avenues to appeal it, even if Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT’s head coach, said it was “never a red card” and Tyler Adams, the national team’s captain, described no route to appeal as “typical FIFA” after the game.
As U.S. Soccer explored their legal options, arguments started to form in the media, including from former match officials, who claimed VAR had not been implemented correctly, with an emphasis on their use of a slow-motion and freeze frame of the incident being at the centre of these claims.
The morning after the win over Bosnia, FIFA formally notified U.S. Soccer of the red card via a communication from its Disciplinary Committee. It was then that U.S. Soccer responded with its view that the decision to send off Balogun was incorrect and that the suspension was unfair. Over the following days, it provided submissions which included a view that the VAR presentation to the referee on the field relied excessively on freeze frames and slow-motion images. The eventual decision did not entirely match up to the U.S. Soccer ask, which was to overturn the decision entirely, but, without a formal appeals process, FIFA found perhaps the only way that Balogun could get on the field within their regulations, which was to suspend the ban.
The federation, not wanting to inflame the situation, took an approach that it would be better served keeping its counsel and remaining magnanimous in public at the same time as working tirelessly behind the scenes to have Balogun’s ban suspended.
So, when Balogun spoke to the media from the USMNT’s open training session on Friday, rather than vent his anger, he instead spoke of being conscious of “inspiring little kids, boys and girls who are watching” and wanting to “show them the correct way to handle things”.
In the days after the 25-year-old was sent off, and including on Friday, Pochettino’s training sessions centred on his star player not being available. He wanted to be kept abreast of the developments throughout the ongoing disciplinary process, and he would have had a gameplan in reserve in case Balogun was ruled eligible to play.
Such was the surprise at Balogun’s ban being suspended, Chris Richards, the USMNT centre-back, said on Sunday that the squad initially wondered whether the news was AI-generated, noting they “weren’t quite sure if it was true or not”, before describing Balogun’s reaction to the news as “lit”.
“I saw a big smile on his face,” Christian Pulisic added. “I got to see him and dap him up. It’s great for us, we’re excited to have a really good player for us.”
Balogun is welcomed back by Christian Pulisic at USMNT training (Sarah Stier – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Unsurprisingly, the positive reaction was not echoed by the USMNT’s opposition.
The Royal Belgian Football Association released a statement on Sunday, saying it was “astonished by FIFA’s decision” and also outlined it was “investigating all potential options”.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Rudi Garcia, Belgium’s head coach, was equally critical.
“I didn’t know that July 5 was equal to April 1 (April Fools’ Day) at FIFA,” Garcia said. “I think we should refer to the (statement) of my federation, the Belgian federation. I think a lot of things are in it. The federation does not defend itself, it does not defend the national team – it defends football in general. It defends its integrity. It defends its ethics.”
Pochettino, speaking after Garcia, defended the controversial decision to suspend Balogun’s one-game ban.
“For me, there isn’t much debate here, though I do understand Belgium’s perspective and Rudi’s point of view,” Pochettino told reporters.
Although FIFA has long maintained the disciplinary committee is independent and it has no influence over any outcome it may arrive at, this is not the first time the organisation has been met with fierce criticism in relation to flexibility around how its rules can be implemented.
The same Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code cited for Balogun was also used earlier in the year, when Cristiano Ronaldo saw two matches of his three-game suspension for a red card against the Republic of Ireland suspended, resulting in him being available for Portugal’s opening two World Cup matches.
Last year, FIFA was met with similar criticism when it appeared to alter the entry criteria for the Club World Cup to accommodate Inter Miami, whose star player is Lionel Messi.
It is the latest in a developing pattern whereby FIFA stands accused of finding ways to get the sport’s biggest stars on the field, ahead of the conventional implementation of its widely understood regulations.
“I have to be honest, I think it was a big mistake by FIFA, this is not a great conclusion to what happened,” Stale Solbakken, Norway’s head coach, said after his team knocked out Brazil on Sunday.
“He got a red card, the VAR concluded it was a red and he was sent off. That means you are meant to be suspended for one game. It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad decision. I feel sorry for the USA. If they win, this decision will be in the background. It’s not good for the sport.”
Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United and England forward, speaking on the BBC, described it as an “absolute disgrace”.
“But to suspend it for a year? I think it’s an absolute disgrace. Infantino should be ashamed of this. The sportsmanship of this game is in question here,” Rooney added.
As well as Infantino, criticism has also been directed at Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer, for his apparent role in the decision, although he does not play any part in the disciplinary proceedings.
Gianni Infantino with FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina in 2022 (Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
Gary Neville, the former England defender, speaking on UK broadcaster ITV, said the decision “absolutely stinks”, before going on to say he would be “absolutely raging” if he was Belgium “or any other team in the tournament”.
Ian Wright, Neville’s team-mate for England, also working for ITV, questioned the ethics of the outcome.
“We’re talking about integrity,” he said. “People talk about transparency, but… some of the things that’s happened in this World Cup have been shameful.”
How FIFA’s independent disciplinary committee made this decision is yet to be made public.
For that to happen, one of the parties involved — the USMNT or Belgium — would need to request the grounds for the outcome. As of Sunday night, Belgium had not requested them and, even if they do, the disciplinary committee can decide against sharing its rationale.
But in the absence of any formal comment from FIFA, nor anything beyond the announcement from the disciplinary committee, questions are being raised as to whether Trump may have finally found his moment to influence this World Cup.
Additional reporting: Henry Bushnell, Paul Tenorio and Tom Bogert
