‘Crossed a red line’: fury as Trump’s call overturns US World Cup ban

FIFA has suspended the one-match ban for US striker Folarin Balogun, allowing him to play in a World Cup knockout game after President Donald Trump personally requested a review .

FIFA has suspended the one-match ban for US striker Folarin Balogun, allowing him to play in a World Cup knockout game after President Donald Trump personally requested a review . The decision has been met with widespread outrage from European football’s governing body UEFA, Belgium, and leading figures across the sport, who say it has undermined the integrity of the competition.

Balogun received a red card in the US victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering an automatic suspension that would rule him out of the crucial round-of-16 clash with Belgium . That suspension was overturned by FIFA, which cited Article 27 of its disciplinary code to suspend the ban for a one-year probationary period . The reversal, which has no precedent in the modern era of World Cup red cards, came after the White House intervened .

In a confirmation of the call, Trump said in the Oval Office: “All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul” . He described the challenge as “two great athletes that got tangled up” .

The move has sparked a furious response from European football. UEFA issued a strongly worded statement, condemning the decision as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable,” accusing FIFA of crossing a “red line” and warning that “the integrity of the game is at stake” .

The Royal Belgian Football Association expressed its astonishment, noting the ruling is in “direct contradiction” with tournament regulations . Criticism has also come from former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who wrote that “red cards are not overturned by political phone calls” , and ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who called the situation “madness” .

FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated he told Trump the case would be decided by “independent judicial bodies,” but sources report a coordinated lobbying effort put pressure on FIFA to rule in Balogun’s favor . This event has ignited a fierce debate about the limits of political power in sport .