Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Oliver Brown
If it were not extraordinary enough that Gianni Infantino has paid more visits to the Oval Office than Keir Starmer, along comes a World Cup decision so heavy with political overtones that it takes the breath away.
Folarin Balogun, the former Arsenal striker whose three goals for the United States at this tournament have propelled the host nation into the last 16, was supposed to be ineligible for Monday night’s titanic clash with Belgium in Seattle.
But then the ban for the contentious red card he received during the victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with exquisitely convenient timing, was suspended, enabling Donald Trump, the US president, to mark a weekend of boisterous Fourth of July festivities with a final, unexpected celebration. The White House’s official reaction? “USA-USA-USA.”
Very subtle. Except nothing about this jaw-dropping move had much nuance, with Infantino’s FIFA offering a novel interpretation of its own rules to delight Trump, disgust Belgium and spare the Americans’ most influential player.
While Trump had stayed oddly quiet until now about the vast sporting spectacular unfolding on his watch, he did not hesitate to extract maximum political capital from the latest turn of events. “Thank you for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice,” he crowed on Truth Social, thus protecting the real “special relationship” – namely, his cloyingly cosy dynamic with Infantino.
At every level, these machinations reek. FIFA’s disciplinary code clearly states that if a player is sent off, it will result in an automatic suspension for the next match.
The process has been followed for all the other 11 red cards at this World Cup so far, and yet with such vast interest in the United States’ potential advance to the quarter-finals, a dispensation has been found for Balogun, in the form of a vanishingly rare “suspended suspension”.
Thanks to this little wrinkle, the 25-year-old has his one-match ban carried over for another 12 months, freeing him to try to repeat his rich scoring form at Belgium’s expense. The Belgian federation said it was “astonished”, while its Bosnian counterpart called the volte-face “disgraceful”. You could only admire their restraint.
Unfortunately, the saga is even worse than this, with reports emerging that Trump personally called Infantino last Wednesday to ask him to review the sanction. And lo and behold, FIFA acquiesced, mirroring its pattern of appeasing the president at every turn.
The unctuous Infantino has already handed him the organisation’s inaugural “peace prize”, despite Trump subsequently choosing to rain bombs on one of the World Cup’s participating nations.
As far as Infantino is concerned, there is no indignity too toe-curling in the cause of courting the leader of the free world. And so now we have one of the most abject moments yet, as Balogun finds himself reprieved just in time, and just as Trump wanted all along.
Examining the finer details of Balogun’s escape, you realise that the only other player to be granted the same clemency recently was Cristiano Ronaldo.
It looked as if the Portugal superstar’s last World Cup would be in jeopardy when his elbow connected last November with Republic of Ireland defender Dara O’Shea, precipitating a three-match ban that threatened to rule him out of his nation’s first two group games.
But then the ever-obliging FIFA rode to the rescue, using the seldom-invoked Article 27 to ensure that the world’s most followed player on Instagram would be centre stage for the grand opening.
The massaging of the rules, and the identities of those for whom FIFA made exceptions, is brazen. Infantino shamelessly stepped on a podium in Florida in 2024 to announce that Inter Miami would compete at the Club World Cup, even though Columbus Crew, the reigning Major League Soccer champions, appeared the more deserving candidate.
But then Miami had one priceless asset that Columbus did not: Lionel Messi. From Messi to Ronaldo to Balogun, FIFA’s rationale carries the same message: whatever you do, do not kill the golden goose.
Some of the usual acolytes cheered, of course. Rio Ferdinand, such a FIFA loyalist these days that he was the first choice to conduct the World Cup draw in Washington last December, responded to Balogun’s reinstatement with three clapping-hands emojis. Everybody else should feel free to react with utter contempt.
Telegraph, London
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
