President Donald Trump personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino on July 1, urging a review of the controversial red card handed to U.S. Men’s National Team star Folarin Balogun, a source familiar with the conversation confirmed. Just days later, on July 5, FIFA reversed the suspension, clearing the team’s top scorer for a critical round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle.
The red card, issued during a World Cup match against Bosnia-Herzegovina after Balogun’s foot landed on an opponent’s ankle, sparked widespread outrage as overly harsh. The reversal gives the U.S. a massive boost ahead of the July 6 clash. Trump took to Truth Social after the decision, thanking FIFA for “doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
Trump and Infantino have cultivated a close relationship over the past year, with the president hosting the FIFA chief at the White House multiple times and Infantino awarding Trump FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize. In a statement, FIFA cited its disciplinary rules for the highly unusual reversal, without addressing Trump’s direct intervention. The organization invoked a provision allowing suspension of disciplinary measures for a probationary period of one year, a clause previously used to allow Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo to play in the 2026 World Cup after a three-match ban.
FIFA did not comment on the White House’s role in the decision. The New York Times first reported Trump’s call to Infantino.
