Football exceeds politics in its duplicity
Tue 2:23 pm +00:00, 7 Jul 2026 4World Cup Trump Cards: Infantino, FIFA and the Meddlesome US President
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark
Global Research, July 07, 2026
Theme: Politics
Yet again, FIFA, and its chief, Gianni Infantino, have distinguished the game of football by showing what it is all about. Not glorious athletes representing code and country across the globe. Not the sense of wellbeing that comes with exercise. No: it’s all about corrupt manoeuvrings, opaque decisions, and scandalous meddling. And who better to be at the centre of it than one of America’s most corrupt, self-enriching figures, one President Donald J. Trump!!
On July 5, the one-game suspension for American striker Folarin Balogun was vacated in exchange for a one-year probation. Balogun had received a contentious red card in the US match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup round of 32. It was not a decision taken well by the spectators and, in particular, the US President. On July 6, he admitted to reporters that he had contacted Infantino about the red card decision.
“That wasn’t a foul,” he explained. “That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed who happened to crash into each other.”
The inevitable insinuation followed: that the decision maker on the pitch could not be trusted.
“And this referee, who is a little suspect – if you check his past. I don’t want to say that because I don’t like to create controversy, but very suspect.”
With extravagant ignorance, Trump seemed to be confused on the nature of the card system in football.
“That’s one thing, to penalize somebody for the game. But how do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played yet? That’s very unfair. You can’t do that.”
So it seems, at least when viewed by this current White House.
According to Politico, an entire political operation favouring the overturning of the decision commenced with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House FIFA World Cup Task Force executive director Andrew Giuliani. (The latter, being the offspring of Rudy Giuliani, has his own special slant on fairness in this cruel, shabby world.)
“That kicked off four days of coordinated lobbying, legal manoeuvring and diplomacy that stretched from the Oval Office to FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich – and underscored how invested Trump’s inner circle had become in the second World Cup hosted on US soil and the fortune of the US men’s national team competing in it.”
The operation involved frantic efforts by US Soccer’s legal team to formally draft and submit an appeal to FIFA, with Giuliani and Lutnick offering the assistance of White House attorneys if needed. Trump, in his call to Infantino, is said to have inquired about the rules around red card decisions and the basis of match suspensions. Infantino, paying close attention, made no promises – or so we are led to believe.
Disturbingly, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin, a hedge-fund manager who has offered to front the fees of the US coach, Mauricio Pochettino, also conducted a libelling campaign among government circles by focusing on the officiating record of Raphael Claus, the Brazilian referee who had made the original decision. This is an administration incapable of accepting the premise that officials can be impartial in discharging their functions.
Things then fell to Emilio García, the pooh-bah responsible for FIFA’s legal affairs. Advice was duly given to Infantino about the circumstances that might permit a successful appeal, an exceedingly rare matter in such circles.
On July 5, FIFA’s 18-member Disciplinary Committee, having conducted its activities unaccountably and in conditions of secrecy, revealed that Balogun’s one-match suspension had been lifted. A terse statement from the world footballing body was cold to details:
“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.”
It was not revealed whether the final decision was reached by a panel vote.
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) expressed astonishment at Balogun’s change of fortunes. The association’s attempt to appeal the decision to the FIFA Appeal Committee was met with the brusque dismissal by committee member Salman Al-Ansari, who declared “the RBFA’s case inadmissible”, confirming the decision to permit Balogun to play. In an official statement, the RBFA was most reproachful:
“To date, the RBFA has not received any grounds for this decision, nor has it received the information it has been requesting since the start of the procedure id est a copy of the decision and the motivation declaring the player eligible as well as the referee’s report. Which is a breach of FIFA regulations.”
The entire process had been tangled in its circuitousness, given that any successful appeal would require the communication of reasons behind the original decision in the first place. The association had merely been “seeking legitimate explanations” only to face an appeal process that had been created by FIFA, one which “immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.”
In Belgium, there was suitable outrage in political circles. Jacqueline Galant, Walloon sports minister from the French-speaking Reformist Movement, expressed her support for the Royal Belgian FA, insisting that fair play was where true strength lay. The opposition Socialist party expressed its disgust:
“Adapting the rules to please Trump, trying to cheat to win – what a deplorable image for FIFA, for the soccer World Cup, and for the United States.”
In actual fact, this deplorable image is very much in keeping with FIFA’s conduct and the way it conducts its affairs with political figures. The essence is in the cheating.
Absurdly FIFA, while declining to confirm whether any specific discussions had taken place between its various arms and the White House, insisted that the decision favouring Balogun had been made by an independent disciplinary body. No report on the decision, again a remarkable state of affairs, has been published. A brazen and smug Lutnick went on to post a picture on social media entitled “Trump Card”, featuring the President brandishing a card bearing his name. A decision blighted by corruption, engineered by a corrupt organisation on the urgings of a corrupt, narcissistic president. Grotesque, yet somehow fitting.
Feel free to repost Global Research articles with proper attribution.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: bkampmark@gmail.com
World Cup footy is a professional sport, and a very big money generator. Name me a professional sport that ISN’T rigged at times. Particularly in the US, they are notorious for rigging ALL their pro sports. Money ALWAYS talks over there. And drama keeps the cash flow gushing
Some of these recent world cup games have been far too pat for me. Climactic endings to ramp up the hype and spin the tournament. Particularly evident in recent knockout games, even todays’ Argie Egypt drama. Where the Argies are down and out but score three times in the last 15 minutes to pull the cat out of the bag. It’s happened too many times in this tournament. Do me a favour, real footy ain’t like that, this is Hollywood footy in the Corporation Nation
Tennis is very similar with the promotion of Eala of the Philippines acting out a role from a movie. The match when she beat the reigning champion with an 80 mph serve seemed the most suspicious with 19 unforced errors in a single set from the champ. They make three or four in a match on a bad day!!!! Clearly a planned agenda with huge payoff for brands. The Philippines needs a psychological boost pre-war with China being used as a base from which to attack Taiwan which is only 140 kilometres (85 miles) north of Luzon. Russian stars like Sharapova were fake prosecuted out of the game pre Ukraine. It’s like the Eurovision Song Contest. Sport and Music are war by other means. England to win in football? Pre a war with Russia? You never know. Too many yellow cards issued getting us ready for the chop.
That was an own goal for the US and FIFA as Belgium demolished the opposition. Even if they go no further in the contest, they have at least made the point that cheats never prosper.
Cartoon Trump played his usual role in this FIFA gerrymandering. Look, Donny tried to cheat but got caught! Really? It seems to me that this minor level cheating conveniently distracts from the much deeper level cheating that infests the professional football business. Orange man is a convenient target, as usual
But the corruption is endemic. The Premier League corruption was demonstrated conclusively by the treatment of my club over these past few years. Two tier governance, the elites untouchable, us plebs fair game, same old. Our supporters told the world how it really is. We even held up red cards en masse pointing it out. Never aired by the broadcasters of course, so only match attendees knew. We all knew, it was in our faces
It’s just the same with UEFA and FIFA. It goes way way back, to the 1950’s and probably earlier. All half awake supporters have known this, it’s not a secret. They corrupted the referees back then, now they’ve got plenty more options, notably the Video Action Replays [VAR]. The fix is always in, why would this World Cup be any different?