WASHINGTON, July 6 — U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly intervened in support of American star forward Folarin Balogun, allowing him to play against Belgium in Monday’s FIFA World Cup match.
Balogun was shown a red card during the United States’ Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday for stepping on the right foot of Tarik Muharemovic, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Trump called Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, in the hours after the match and asked him to review Balogun’s suspension, The New York Times reported, citing four people familiar with the conversation. In a press release on Monday, FIFA said Balogun will be available to play in the co-host’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match against Belgium at Seattle Stadium. By operation of Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), the implementation of the automatic match suspension for Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one year, it said. The FDC’s Article 27 allows FIFA’s judicial body to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The reversal is highly unusual and is the first time since 1962 that FIFA has allowed a player to appear in a game when they would have been suspended after being sent off in the World Cup, according to The New York Times.
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