One Man Overturned Balogun’s Red Card. The Other 17 Committee Members Had No Say.

Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino about Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card. But the White House says it was just a chat to understand the reasoning behind the suspension. That’s the official line. The reality is more complicated.

NBC White House correspondent Monica Alba reported that Trump reached out to Infantino purely to better understand the decision. The administration then submitted extra evidence to back up the U.S. Soccer Federation’s appeal. Formal channels and all that. But here’s the part that’s getting attention.

The Single Person Who Actually Made the Call

According to an investigation by NBC Sports and Martyn Ziegler of The Times of London, the decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension before the Round of 16 match against Belgium came from exactly one person. Mohammad al-Kamali, the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee from the United Arab Emirates, made the call alone. The other 17 committee members were not involved.

FIFA normally uses a three-panel review for serious cases like this. Single-member rulings are typical for minor stuff — yellow card appeals, procedural issues. For a red card in a World Cup knockout game? That’s not minor. Published case records show that when solitary decisions are made, they’re usually handled by Colombia’s deputy chairman Jorge Palacio. Not the chairman. The departure from standard procedure is what has people asking questions.

The timing doesn’t help either. Trump’s call to Infantino happened before the decision. The White House says there was no pressure applied. Trump himself addressed the controversy in a press briefing reported by ESPN: All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say you have to do this.

But skipping the multi-member review process stripped away the safeguards that keep political influence from leaking into disciplinary rulings. It’s not a stretch to connect the dots, even if nobody is admitting anything outright.

Belgium Made It a Moot Point Anyway

For what it’s worth, Balogun played in the match after the suspension was lifted. Belgium won 4-1. The whole thing became somewhat irrelevant to the tournament outcome. But the governance issue didn’t go away.

Infantino initially put out a defensive statement saying FIFA’s judicial arms operate independently. That didn’t land well. International backlash has been coming in from multiple directions. The integrity of the disciplinary process took a visible hit, and it’s not clear how FIFA rebuilds that trust. The committee structure exists for a reason, and ignoring it for one high-profile case raises obvious questions about what other decisions might have been handled the same way.

For now, the spotlight stays on Al-Kamali and whether he’ll face any consequences for going solo on a call this big. FIFA hasn’t said anything about that yet.