When the most powerful person on the planet picks up the phone to reverse a referee’s decision at the World Cup, it stops being a sports story. It becomes a governance story, an integrity story, and yes, a markets story.
Folarin Balogun, the US Men’s National Team forward, has opened up about the fallout from President Trump’s intervention to suspend his one-match ban during the 2026 World Cup. The short version: Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino multiple times after Balogun received a red card in a round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 2. FIFA then suspended the ban for one year, allowing Balogun to suit up for the last-16 match against Belgium. The US lost anyway, which is its own kind of irony.
What actually happened
Balogun picked up the red card during the Bosnia match, which should have triggered a standard one-match suspension. But then Trump got involved. Multiple calls to Infantino between July 2 and July 3 reportedly pressed for a review of the decision. What followed was historic in the worst possible way: FIFA reversed the suspension, marking the first time a World Cup red-card ban had been overturned since 1962.
Balogun himself hasn’t shied away from acknowledging how uncomfortable the whole episode became. He described sensing nervousness among his teammates, who felt the weight of what he called “outside noise” pressing down on the squad.
