Klopp and Lineker join calls for Infantino to resign over Trump's World Cup interference

Gianni Infantino is facing widespread calls to resign as Fifa president after Donald Trump publicly boasted about personally intervening to have Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension overturned at the 2026 World Cup, allowing the USA striker to play in the co-hosts’ 4-1 round-of-16 defeat to Belgium.

Balogun had been sent off during the United States’ group-stage match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but a Fifa disciplinary committee suspended his ban following what Trump described as a phone call he made to Infantino requesting a “review” of the sanction. The US president and the Fifa chief share a long-standing friendship — Trump was presented with the inaugural “Fifa Peace Prize” at the World Cup draw in December.

Jurgen Klopp, who is set to be appointed as Germany’s new head coach, was among the most vocal critics. “This is our sport, not theirs,” Klopp said. “If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into question.”

Gary Lineker, speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, suggested Balogun or USA manager Mauricio Pochettino should have declined to use the reinstated player on principle. “I thought this at the time, it would have been a good play for either Balogun or Mauricio Pochettino to just say, actually, I don’t think that’s right for football, the integrity of the game, the integrity of the sport,” Lineker said. “I wonder whether they were better off just saying, ‘actually, we’re going to leave him out anyway’.”

The backlash has extended beyond the game itself. Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter — who received an eight-year ban from football after being impeached in 2015 — condemned the decision, as did Uefa. British politicians have also weighed in, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey stating bluntly that “Infantino must go,” adding that “the World Cup belongs to the fans — not gangsters like Trump.”

David Bernstein, a former Football Association chairman and a prominent critic of Blatter during his tenure, warned that the episode undermines one of football’s core principles. “It hits at one of the beauties of football — the worldwide application across the world of regulations and rules,” he said.

Infantino has served as Fifa president since 2016, having been re-elected unopposed twice. He confirmed earlier this year that he intends to stand for another four-year term in 2027.