🟥“Red Card” Edition

Jul 07, 2026

One of the things that makes sports compelling is the belief that, once the whistle blows, everyone plays by the same rules. Fans can accept a bad call. They can accept a heartbreaking loss. What they have a much harder time accepting is the suspicion that the rules change depending on who’s making the phone calls.

That’s why President Trump’s public boasting about calling FIFA to seek relief for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension was so troubling. Whether or not the White House actually influenced FIFA’s decision is almost beside the point. Trump says he made the call. FIFA reversed the suspension. Then Trump took credit. Around the world, millions of soccer fans reached the same conclusion: America got special treatment.

And then Belgium beat the U.S. 4–1 anyway. Apparently, even presidential intervention has its limits. If there was any cosmic soccer justice at work, it arrived not as a subtle rebuke but as a scoreboard.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino insists the organization’s judicial bodies acted independently. Perhaps that’s true. But in sports—as in government—the appearance of impartiality is nearly as important as impartiality itself. Referees aren’t supposed to take calls from team owners during halftime. Judges aren’t supposed to take calls from politicians about pending cases. And the President of the United States shouldn’t be lobbying an international sports body to overturn a disciplinary decision involving his own national team.

The damage extends beyond one World Cup match. Whether you thought Balogun deserved a second chance is beside the point. The world’s biggest sporting event isn’t strengthened when the host nation’s president publicly inserts himself into the officiating process. It breeds resentment, invites accusations of favoritism, and undermines the spirit of fair competition the World Cup is supposed to celebrate. Good sportsmanship begins with accepting that sometimes the referee’s call doesn’t go your way. Great nations should be able to do the same.

Now the U.S. team will have to live with the ignominious distinction of having received special treatment and still losing. That’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the President of the United States.