FIFA also dismissed Belgium\u2019s appeal over the decision as \u201cinadmissable\u201d. Belgium\u2019s football association said earlier it had \u201cstill not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Under pressure to explain FIFA\u2019s decision to allow Balogun to play, Infantino insisted on Monday that his organization\u2019s disciplinary process was independent and he could not influence it.<\/p>\n
That came after Trump confirmed he had contacted Infantino directly about the red card.<\/p>\n
Trump told reporters at the White House he had called Infantino, with whom he has built a close relationship, \u201cbecause I didn\u2019t think it was a foul\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I did was ask for a review, I didn\u2019t say you have to do this,\u201d Trump added. <\/p>\n
Infantino said he had explained to Trump that \u201cthere was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA\u2019s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c42ec1aa92e324eeb2f5dc4b7f93e56f.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The football chief said he always read the decisions handed down and \u201csometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.\u201d He added: \u201cWhat I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them.\u201d <\/p>\n
European football\u2019s governing body UEFA said FIFA had \u201ccrossed a red line\u201d by allowing Balogun to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not,\u201d UEFA added.<\/p>\n
It also warned of the ramifications for the sport as a whole. \u201cFootball is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because is played everywhere with the same laws,\u201d UEFA said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.\u201d <\/p>\n
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said he thought it was an April Fool\u2019s joke when he heard Balogun\u2019s card had been suspended, while Norway coach Stale Solbakken said FIFA had made \u201ca big mistake\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jurgen Klopp, who is set to be Germany\u2019s next coach, also hit out, saying: \u201cThis is our game, not theirs… If Trump and Infantino really worked this all out between themselves, that\u2019s crazy. It calls everything into question.\u201d <\/p>\n
Former England and Manchester United star Gary Neville said FIFA\u2019s decision represented \u201ca stain\u201d on the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Trump) rang up somebody at FIFA and asked them to change their mind, and lo and behold, an independent committee then changed their mind,\u201d Neville said. \u201cIt stinks.\u201d <\/p>\n
Infantino said he often discussed events at the World Cup with Trump. <\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues.\u201d <\/p>\n
Infantino, a Swiss-Italian who has led FIFA since 2016, was a frequent visitor to the White House in the buildup to the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Last year he awarded Trump a newly created FIFA peace prize, which he presented to the president at the World Cup draw in Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FIFA chief Gianni Infantino on Monday defended the decision to reprieve US World Cup star Folarin Balogun after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2620,370440,64,63,370441,370435,485,45447,246566,2490,1208,122482,13201,370438,244979,370434,59917,13202,99086,172760,370442,370436,42099,481,6255,186827,217131,272861,370437,5142,85,253277,68089,370439,2614,3601,61620],"class_list":["post-783611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-american-soccer","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-belgium-coach","tag-business-executives","tag-california","tag-d-c","tag-disciplinary-process","tag-donald-trump","tag-england","tag-european-football","tag-fifa","tag-football-association","tag-football-chief","tag-football-stakeholders","tag-gary-neville","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-governing-body","tag-government-officials","tag-independent-committee","tag-independent-judicial-bodies","tag-jurgen-klopp","tag-los-angeles","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-peace-prize","tag-red-card","tag-red-line","tag-rudi-garcia","tag-seattle","tag-sports","tag-stale-solbakken","tag-state-of-washington","tag-transparent-competition","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-washington","tag-world-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}