Fifa overturned a red card for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun on Sunday, clearing him for Monday’s World Cup knockout game against Belgium. And the decision has drawn criticism from a former Fifa president who knows a thing or two about controversy.
Sepp Blatter, who led the organization for 17 years before getting banned himself, took to X to accuse Fifa of bending to political pressure from the White House. Specifically, President Donald Trump’s World Cup Task Force.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” Blatter wrote. “They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”
He went further, asking a pointed question: “If a US President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis, FIFA? Football must never become a playground for political power.”
Balogun picked up a straight red during the U.S. win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. The ban was supposed to keep him out of the Belgium match. Instead, Fifa suspended the suspension for a year, making him eligible Monday night.
The Belgian football association didn’t take it quietly. They issued a statement expressing “astonishment” and confirmed they were “investigating all potential options.” Reports Monday morning said the RBFA had filed an appeal, with documents due by 1 p.m. UK time. Fifa hasn’t confirmed whether it will grant that appeal.
The Coaches Are Not Happy Either
Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia compared the situation to an April Fool’s Day joke, which is about what you’d expect from a coach whose team just lost its best chance at an advantage.
England boss Thomas Tuchel called it “strange” and asked the obvious questions: “Who overturns this decision and when and on what grounds? And how far does this go now? It’s just strange for me. We just want to have consistency in the decisions.”
Trump welcomed the ruling, and reports suggest the U.S. government applied pressure behind the scenes. But neither Fifa nor the White House task force has confirmed any direct calls. That hasn’t stopped people from assuming.
And it’s not like Blatter has clean hands here. His presidency ended in 2015 with an eight-year ban related to a payment to Michel Platini, later reduced to six. A separate suspension from Fifa’s ethics committee hit him again in 2021 for other violations. Both men were later cleared in Swiss courts, but the damage to Blatter’s reputation never really healed. Still, he’s making a point that resonates even if the messenger is flawed.
The bigger question now is what precedent this sets. Balogun plays Monday. The debate over why he’s playing will probably last a lot longer than that.
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