Just as the FIFA World Cup was entering its serious stages, US President Donald Trump decided it was time for him to leave his grubby fingerprints all over the competition, and the sport’s governing body threw its doors wide open for the American President to have his amusement.
In a disgraceful affront to football lovers the world over, Trump leaned on FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to suspend a mandatory ban slapped on the US team’s striker Folarin Balogun so that he could play in the knockout match versus Belgium on Tuesday. As it turned out, USA fielded the striker but was soundly thrashed, which supplies us a very satisfying metaphor for everything Trump does: Everything he does gets attention, but everything he does fails.
In his previous match, Balogun was given a red card for violent play. A red card in the World Cup removes the player from the rest of the match and automatically earns him or her a one-match ban minimum, and more if a disciplinary committee deems the offence serious.
After Balogun’s red card last Thursday, Trump personally telephoned Infantino and ‘suggested’ a review of the ban. A whole battery of his aides including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick followed up with threats of litigation and other dark arts.
Overriding all rules of competition, Infantino prevailed upon FIFA’s disciplinary committee to ‘suspend’ Balogun's ban for one year, clearing the way for him to play in the decisive match against Belgium. Not only was this none of Infantino’s business, World Cup rules have no provision for suspension of a red-card ban while the tournament is still going on. A review could duly be held, and the ban revoked, but only at the committee’s discretion and certainly not during the competition.
Throughout the nearly hundred years of World Cup history, a total of 189 red cards have been handed out, and Balogun’s only the second player not to have served out his ban. The first was Brazilian player Garrincha who was allowed to play in the final of the 1982 competition after seeing red in the semis. But then, there was no automatic ban in the rules then.
In the current competition, 10 other players have been shown red and are serving out their bans. A Qatari player had a five-match ban slapped on him after receiving a red card. In England’s match versus Mexico, a defender was shown red, and his manager is now asking whether he too can apply for a revocation. Since Infantino is open for business, that might require a telephone call from King Charles.
The Balogun red is only the latest disgrace the Trump administration has perpetrated on the World Cup, which is the biggest sporting event of all with an avid following in every country on the map. The Iranian team was not allowed to train in the US and made to leave the country within an hour of playing their matches. An empanelled Somali referee was denied entry into the US after being detained and questioned for 10 hours. In the runup to the tournament, Infantino grovelled before Trump with ‘FIFA Peace Award' and earned himself the nickname Sycofantino. Apart from the marvellous performance of some players, this competition is likely to be remembered for Infantino’s shameful complicity in a farce called the Hand of Don.