How a Trump call and FIFA ruling sparked a World Cup controversy

GENEVA — With the integrity of FIFA and the World Cup under attack from European soccer leaders, FIFA President Gianni Infantino acknowledged taking a call from President Donald Trump before U.S. forward Folarin Balogun was cleared to play against Belgium later Monday.

Balogun was issued a red card in the U.S. match vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina last week, resulting in a suspension for the Belgium contest. Trump called Infantino after the game with Bosnia to plead his case to overturn the call, and FIFA lifted the suspension on Sunday.

That prompted a day of off-field furor at the World Cup

The Belgian soccer federation challenged FIFA’s ruling not to enforce a ban on Balogun. The European soccer body UEFA described the decision as an “incomprehensible” breach of soccer’s rule of law. Trump acknowledged calling Infantino and took credit for getting FIFA to review the red card.

A chaotic and unprecedented day in modern World Cup history then saw a FIFA appeals judge dismiss Belgium’s legal challenge, fewer than eight hours before kickoff in Seattle with a quarterfinals place at stake.

The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement.

It was unclear if Belgium can, and how soon, pursue an appeal to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is on standby to rule on urgent World Cup cases.

The Belgian federation said it “has informed the United States Soccer Federation that it contests the eligibility of the player, should the player be listed on the referee’s team sheet. This leaves all further actions open.”

The fallout from Balogun’s red-card challenge against a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender, in a 2-0 win for the U.S. in the round of 32 last Wednesday, has turned scrutiny on Infantino’s executive control of FIFA and his years-long close ties to Trump.

Infantino insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.”

“During our conversation,” Infantino said of his call with Trump, ”I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies.”

A FIFA disciplinary judge’s ruling Sunday left Balogun free to face Belgium in the round of 16 later instead of serving a mandatory one-game ban.

The Belgian federation earlier said FIFA had not provided key documents for its appeal, and the soccer body of Norway — which faces England in the quarterfinals Saturday — said the lack of legal explanation from FIFA was “reason for concern regarding the integrity of the competition.” The Swiss Football Association declared that the “credibility of the competition depends on clear rules that are applied consistently.”

Trump’s comments

Trump on Monday defended calling Infantino, saying he merely pointed out a “horrible” decision by a referee to issue Balogun a red card for an illegal tackle.

“All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters at the White House about lobbying Infantino, a close ally, not to impose a one-game ban. Instead, the ban was deferred for one year of probation and flared into an all-time controversy in the World Cup’s 96-year history just hours ahead of the U.S.-Belgium match in Seattle.

UEFA vs. FIFA reignites

UEFA earlier criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” that it said “crossed a red line,” and other stinging criticism came globally from former World Cup stars and coaches at the tournament.

“It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup,” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said Sunday after his team beat Brazil to reach the quarterfinals.

UEFA, whose member federations include Belgium, insisted: “Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not. When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”

UEFA has often clashed with Infantino during his decade in FIFA power.

“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” said UEFA, where Infantino was its CEO-like general secretary from 2009 until being elected to lead FIFA in February 2016.

Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter, who was forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media: “Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”

Belgium’s legal options

Belgian officials prepared in Seattle through the night into Monday to get a hearing with a FIFA-appointed appeals judge, and their eventual defeat might not be the end.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of the match,” the Belgian federation said, ”(we are) deeply concerned by the way these events have unfolded and will continue, in the hours, days and months ahead, to pursue every available avenue to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, sporting fairness and the interests of football as a whole.”

Balogun’s tackle

Balogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during a 2-0 win for the U.S. in the round of 32.

That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.

Still, similar challenges by star players have gone unpunished at this World Cup — by Argentina’s Lionel Messi against Algeria and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi vs. Brazil. Bernardo Silva of Portugal got just a yellow card against Congo.

“I think a yellow card would have been fair,” Balogun later suggested.

FIFA’s interventions

This World Cup has been remarkable for FIFA under Infantino seeming to rewrite the norms of disciplinary action even before the tournament began.

A pattern of pardons opened FIFA to suggestions of executive intervention in the statutory independence of its judicial bodies, including the disciplinary committee that formally reprieved Balogun.

Cristiano Ronaldo was cleared to play in Portugal’s opening World Cup game despite getting a red card for serious foul play in a qualifying game against Ireland last November. He struck an opponent with an elbow.

Ronaldo served his mandatory ban in Portugal’s final qualifying game but he was reprieved from an expected two-game ban because FIFA introduced the idea of probation. An imposed three-game ban was less meaningful as two games were deferred during a one-year probationary period.

At the opening game on June 11, South Africa’s Themba Zwane got a red card against Mexico for a similar offense to Ronaldo’s and FIFA imposed a three-game ban with no probation. Zwane did not play again at the World Cup.

Three players sent off in their teams’ qualifying games last year were surprisingly told by FIFA in May they could serve their bans in a future competition instead of at the World Cup, which was the long-standing norm.

Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo, Argentina defender Nicolás Otamendi and Qatar defender Tarek Salman all had their bans waived for the World Cup.