The president of the United States called the president of FIFA. Three times. And it worked.
FIFA announced on July 5 that it would suspend the one-game red-card ban imposed on US Men’s National Team striker Folarin Balogun, clearing him to play in the World Cup round-of-16 match against Belgium on July 7. The decision came after Donald Trump made at least three direct appeals to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who framed the reversal as a matter of fairness.
From red card to meme token
Balogun picked up a straight red card on July 1 during the USMNT’s 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under FIFA’s standard guidelines, the automatic suspension that follows a red card was supposed to be non-appealable.
After scoring two goals in his World Cup debut against Paraguay in late June, a Solana-based meme token named BALOGUN launched almost immediately. Coinbase and Polymarket both launched prediction markets tied to Balogun’s total goal count for the tournament. So when the red card dropped and it looked like the striker would miss one of the biggest games in American soccer history, it wasn’t just fans who were upset. Traders holding positions on his goal total had real money at stake.
