FIFA urged to resign Infantino after Trump call overturns Balogun red card ban

FIFA is facing a governance crisis after it suspended Folarin Balogun’s automatic one-match ban ahead of the United States’ World Cup last-16 tie against Belgium, a decision that followed a phone call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The move has drawn widespread condemnation and prompted calls for Infantino’s resignation.

Balogun was sent off during the US victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina and should have served an automatic suspension for the knockout-stage match. FIFA announced on Sunday that the punishment had been suspended under Article 27 of its disciplinary code, which allows a sanction to be deferred for a probationary period of one year. The ruling clears Balogun — the co-hosts’ leading goalscorer — to play against Belgium.

Trump subsequently celebrated the decision on Truth Social, writing: “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice.” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force, was also involved in the communications with Infantino.

UEFA, European football’s governing body, publicly accused FIFA of undermining the integrity of the tournament — a rare and pointed rebuke from within the sport’s own institutional structure.

Infantino acknowledged the call in a statement, saying: “I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues.” He added that he would always “respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them.”

The precedent the ruling sets has alarmed supporters and officials alike. Of the 188 other red cards shown at World Cups, only one player has previously escaped a suspension — Brazil’s Garrincha in 1962, before automatic bans existed, in a case later linked to allegations of political interference.

“If Infantino had any sense of shame, he would resign,” said Ray Harada, 67, a lifelong England supporter. “If FIFA’s own rules can be bent after one phone call from Donald Trump, then what is the point of having rules at all?”

The episode has intensified scrutiny of FIFA’s independence at a tournament it is co-hosting in the United States, with critics arguing that the governing body’s credibility now rests on how it responds to the fallout.