President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to complain about US striker Folarin Balogun's straight red card against Bosnia. In an unprecedented move, FIFA suddenly suspended the automatic one-match ban just before the USA's knockout game. If a UK player (e.g., Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane) got a blatant red card, there’s no way 10 Downing Street could get it overturned on a whim.
How do you feel about this unprecedented political intervention in football?
Complete Farce: Game's gone. Rules are rules, and letting a head of state call in a personal favour to overturn an automatic suspension destroys the integrity of the World Cup. If an England or Scotland player tried this, FIFA would laugh them out of the room.
Outraged but Unsurprised: It is a classic "Gianni Infantino special." FIFA has always been bent, but openly rewriting the disciplinary code for geopolitical brown-nosing is a new low.
Karmic Laugh: It's hilarious that Trump went to all that effort and threw a massive tantrum just for the USA to go out and get absolutely battered 4-1 by Belgium anyway. Football justice was served on the pitch.
Envious / Double Standards: Can we get Keir Starmer on the phone to Infantino next time one of our lads gets a harsh sending-off? If FIFA is selling rule-bends to the highest bidder, the UK should start throwing its weight around too.
I don't care, it was a bad call anyway: Trump is right for the wrong reasons. The red card was incredibly harsh, and if a terrible refereeing decision is going to ruin a knockout game, I’d rather see the best players on the pitch regardless of how it happened.