Consider This from NPR - FIFA's red card reversal: Fair play or political interference?

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee suspended US striker Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban in exchange for a probationary period of one year.The decision was announced after President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the red card.The suspended red card means Balogun can play in Monday night's win-or-go-home match in Seattle versus Belgium.But the decision has faced harsh criticism from fans and The Union of European Football Associations, which said the red card suspension "crossed a red line."What does the red card debacle tell us about political interference in elite soccer?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail] episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Tiffany Vera Castro. Our director is Kai McNamee.It was edited by William Troop and Tinbete Ermyas.Or interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, a suspended red card and what it might say about political interference in soccer. During a World Cup match on Wednesday, U.S. striker, Florin Balagan, and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Tarek Muromovich were fighting for the ball when Baligan stepped on the Bosnian defender's ankle and was given a red card. That meant Baligan, the U.S. team's leading score, would not be able to play in the next knockout match. Typically, a red card cannot be challenged by the team, according to rules set up by FIFA, the international governing body for soccer. Then President Trump called FIFA's president,

Johnny Infantino. Here's Trump on Monday, recounting the call. But all I did, all I did, I asked for a review, because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled. That was not a guy punching something. somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different. After the review that Trump requested, a stunning move, FIFA suspended the red card. Instead of sitting out Monday's match against Belgium, Baligan would be placed on probation for one year.

And that meant a key player would be on the pitch for the biggest game in U.S. soccer history. Here's Trump again. And they made the right decision because, number one, it wasn't a foul. And you want to see a game with your best players. But not everybody sees it that way. The European Soccer Federation, UEFA, says that FIFA crossed a red line by suspending the red card. Consider this. The reversal has been the talk of the soccer world and has resurfaced discussions about FIFA and corruption. Is this uncharted territory?

From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. It's Consider This from NPR. Sports is very often about more than what happens on the field, and that is definitely the case with today's World Cup round of 16 match between the United States and Belgium. We are talking, of course, about FIFA's decision to allow U.S. striker Filar and Balligan to play in today's game, delaying a one-match ban, Baligan received following the red card for dangerous play that he picked up in the previous game against Bosnia. The reversal by soccer's global governing body has been widely criticized ahead of today's match.

Franklin Four is a staff writer for the Atlantic and someone who has written and spoken a lot about the mix of politics in soccer. He is also the author of how soccer experience. explains the world and joins us now. Welcome. Hi. What, if anything, of all of this surprised you? The overtness of it all. I mean, I know that Donald Trump likes to boast about how he's able to shift outcomes in order to claim credit for something that I think he believes will make him enormously popular here at home. He's just trumpeted the fact that he has, has kind of used his relationship with FIFA and Gianni and Fantino in order to get this decision that he wants. And so it's the

There's nothing that's happening underneath the table behind closed doors. This is all happening out in the wide open. How does this compare? Before we talk a little bit more about the moment, just putting in this context, how does this compare to what I think would widely reviewed as run-of-the-mill corruption that often comes along with FIFA decision-making over the years? All right. So we have to say that this is perfectly consistent with FIFA's and soccer's long history of political leaders trying to shape the outcomes. of World Cup soccer matches. We went back to 1934,

there are stories about Benito Mussolini having dinner with the referee who was refereeing Italy on the eve of that World Cup final. And there are instances of military dictatorships in Brazil and Argentina bringing political pressure to bear on World Cup

refereeing decisions and the like. And so this isn't novel. It hasn't happened for many, many decades, which is why it feels like it's kind of this shock to the system. and it's coming out of the blue. And the fact that it's happened before doesn't mean that it's acceptable this time.

You had written about the fact that Donald Trump, that President Trump, had really attached himself to FIFA, had attached himself to this World Cup, tried to make it a personal branding thing. And yet, over the last few weeks, he had receded from the scene. There was such a focus on the amazing play so far.

Now, to you, is this World Cup all about what Trump did, at least in this moment? Yeah, I mean, one of the things that's so amazing about a World Cup, we just flash back before this whole fiasco occurred was the way in which the game is so profoundly equalizing that on this weekend we watched Cape Verde, a country with half a million people, go toe to toe with Argentina, which is one, which is Leonel Messi, the greatest player,

perhaps of all time and has won all these World Cups. And they were able to face each other on the soccer pitch, and there was nothing that separated the two teams, their population size, their political power didn't matter. But then to have a country's political power affecting the outcome in this tangible way, even if the decision was in isolation just, there's something called the rule of law. And we know about this in our own court system. And it happens in sports as well, that there is a set of procedures that the red card was called on the field by the referee. It was reviewed by the video assistant referee.

And that's a final decision. And whether we like the outcomes of elections or court decisions, part about being a citizen of a system is that we have to accept the results. And the FIFA system didn't allow for any possibility for appeal. And then Trump's, because he has this long relationship with FIFA and Infantino, he's able to wield his power in order to get the outcome that he desires that's not available to any other nation in the world. Yeah. On the other hand, Trump is not a lot. On the other hand. On the other hand, I guess there's several on the other hands here.

But let's take one of them. Trump is not alone in saying this was a pretty dubious call to begin with. Does that factor into how you're thinking about this at all? Well, when I first saw the notification of my phone that this was being overturned, my first reaction was justice has been served because I was fuming after Balligan got that red card. It just felt to me like a pretty dubious red card, maybe even a dubious yellow card. And I was jumping with joy. And then I started to think through the implications of everything that had happened and the way in which this is going to blow back on the U.S. national team.

So if they win tonight with Allegan on the pitch, it's going to taint that victory in the eyes of the world. And so that that makes – the more I thought about it, it didn't take me too long. But the more I thought about it, the more deeply uncomfortable I felt, but also just sad. sad that this thing that's been such a marvelous experience is this great festival of unity with the Scots coming in and drinking Boston dry with the way in which all these fans have come to this country and rediscovered their affection in love for America, even for ranch dressing. And then to have that all kind of come crashing down because of this one moment, it really undermines something that was, that was, that was, it felt pure and good.

All right. So Franklin, Forler, let me ask you this. You have thought a lot. about all of the conflicting storylines we're talking about right now. You are also cheering for the U.S. men's national team as a fan. What to you is the best case scenario for tonight's match, given all of this? There is no best case scenario anymore because I still want these guys to win. I really like this team. And the way that they've played over the course of this tournament has been so dazzling. They've played with swagger. They've been entertaining.

it's been a really joyous thing to watch this team in the way that they've connected to fans and the way that they've connected the non-socer following universe to the soccer following universe. And so I don't want them to fail. I still want them to succeed. I would love it if some of the players could maybe speak out and say something that that distances themselves from this advantage that they've had. but I fear what's going to happen is that this is just going to open up, you know, this is occurring in a political context where Europe and the United States are drifting away from one another on so many other fronts.

And it seems like Europe is kind of seized on this as an example of the way, you know, correctly so it's the way the United States under Trump has thrown around its power. And so it's just, again, so devastating to see something that could have, bridge to divide become another flashpoint that's going to separate us. Franklin Foyer's staff writer for The Atlantic, also the author of How Soccer Explains the World. Thank you so much. Thank you. This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Tiffany Vera Castro.

Our director is Kai McNamee. It was edited by William Troop and Tinbeat Armius. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorney. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.