FIFA Lifts US Striker Balogun’s Red Card Suspension After Trump Calls Infantino

FIFA suspended forward Folarin Balogun's red-card ban on Sunday, allowing him to play after President Donald Trump personally asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to look into the matter.

This was an extraordinary development for the United States' World Cup campaign.

Belgium, who play the United States on Monday for a berth in the quarterfinals, reacted angrily to the extraordinary measure, which also brought FIFA's disciplinary procedure into the public eye.

It also guaranteed that the link between football's governing body and political power would be one of the tournament's main talking themes, rather than strategy or team selection.

In a matter of minutes, Sunday's ruling dominated talk shows and sports briefings as experts, commentators, and former players debated whether FIFA had upheld justice or compromised its own regulations.

FIFA did not reply to Reuters' requests for comment over the decision and Trump's conversation with Infantino as concerns about the circumstances underlying the move grew.

In Thursday's 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun scored his third goal of the World Cup, but he was sent off for putting his boot in defender Tarik Muharemovic's ankle.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino claimed the 25-year-old's dismissal following a VAR review was never a red-card infraction.

According to a source briefed on the call, Trump called Infantino to request that the world football governing body examine the sending-off.

“In line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” FIFA said in a statement.

“If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”

The judicial body has the discretion to end the application of a disciplinary sentence partially or fully.