Trump Called Infantino. The US Got Its Star Player Back. Now FIFA Faces a Backlash.

Jurgen Klopp didn’t hold back. Neither did Gary Lineker, the UK’s Liberal Democrat leader, or even the guy who used to run FIFA before he got banned for corruption. The thing that pulled them all together? Folarin Balogun wearing a US jersey against Belgium when he probably shouldn’t have been allowed on the pitch.

Balogun, the 24-year-old striker for the US men’s national team, got sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the group stage. That’s supposed to mean a suspension. But FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the ban. And then Donald Trump went on TV and bragged about calling Gianni Infantino to ask for a “review” of the red card.

Trump and Infantino are friends. They’ve been photographed together. Infantino even gave Trump the first-ever “FIFA Peace Prize” back in December. But that friendship is now causing a crisis inside the sport’s governing body.

Klopp didn’t sugarcoat it

“This is our sport, not theirs,” Klopp said. He’s about to take over as Germany’s manager, so people are listening. “If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness. It calls everything into question.”

The US ended up losing to Belgium 4-1 in the round of 16, with Balogun on the field. So it’s not like the intervention swung a win. But that almost makes it worse. It looked like a special favor for no real payoff.

Lineker, speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, said Pochettino or Balogun himself should have drawn a line. “It would have been a good play for either of them to just say, actually, I don’t think that’s right for football, the integrity of the game,” Lineker argued. “I wonder whether they were better off just saying, ‘we’re going to leave him out anyway’.”

Old enemies, new front

Sepp Blatter, who was FIFA’s president before he got an eight-year ban in 2015, came out against his successor. That’s how bad this looks. Blatter and Infantino are not allies. But Blatter knows political interference when he sees it.

UEFA also condemned the decision. So did David Bernstein, the former FA chairman. “It hits at one of the beauties of football — the worldwide application across the world of regulations and rules,” Bernstein said.

And then there’s Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK. He said “Infantino must go” and added that “the World Cup belongs to the fans — not gangsters like Trump.” That’s a direct line, no filtering.

Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016. He’s been re-elected twice, both times unopposed. He’s already said he’ll run again in 2027 for another four-year term. That was before this whole Balogun mess blew up. Whether this changes anything inside FIFA’s voting process is an open question. But the calls for his resignation are getting louder, and they’re coming from places he can’t just ignore.