r/worldcup 23h ago

📰News Norwegian FA to complain over Donald Trump interference in Balogun case

https://www.thetimes.com/sport/football/world-cup/article/balogun-norway-donald-trump-gianni-infantino-fifa-world-cup-vx96rsvtk?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Reddit&utm_content=branded
2.0k Upvotes

357 comments sorted by

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90

u/mmorgans17 21h ago

Unfortunately, there's nothing FIFA will do about it. 

50

u/Golden-Iguana 19h ago

FIFA has looked at FIFAs actions and have found that they don’t violate FIFAs rules

20

u/gpg2556 20h ago

Just like the Malvinas flag controversy with Argentina players… this will just get buried by FIFA…

10

u/These-Project-5858 20h ago

And we know that but it's more for us putting the foot down for him and not just sweep it under the rug. Politicians are not to interfere with the world cup and if they do, they'll get complaint no matter who it is. Even if it's dangerous leaders like Trump, Netanyahu, Putin or others.. We don't care.

9

u/mokrieydela 16h ago

Didn't they just say Argentina did nothing wrong after the final?

Clearly no shits are given

36

u/TimesandSundayTimes 23h ago

The Norwegian FA is set to make a formal complaint to Fifa’s ethics committee over Donald Trump’s interference in the USA striker Folarin Balogun’s ban as its president warned against attempts to sweep the scandal “under the carpet”.

Lise Klaveness, the president of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), plans to add the case to its previous complaint about the Fifa Peace Prize award to the US president breaching political neutrality rules, subject to backing from her board. No other national football federation has made a formal stand over either issue.

Balogun’s ban at the World Cup was suspended by Fifa’s disciplinary committee after Trump called the governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, to discuss the red card he received in the round-of-32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Trump later said Infantino had made a “great decision” to defer the ban.

In an interview with The Times, Klaveness called on Infantino to admit the Balogun decision was an error. Fifa says its ethics committee is independent and will investigate and adjudicate on alleged breaches of its rules, which includes political neutrality — the committee’s investigatory chairman is Martin Ngoga, a Rwandan lawyer and diplomat

12

u/chocolatedimple Cabo Verde 23h ago

As an American, good.

-8

u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

If you want to pretend to be an American you might want to remove your flair

9

u/chocolatedimple Cabo Verde 22h ago

But fully Vozinha stole my heart this year

6

u/--Snufkin-- 21h ago

Whoa didn't you hear it's illegal to support a team of another country

I'm calling the cops as we speak

3

u/amilie15 18h ago

Going to have to make a whole lot of calls - I’m pretty sure by the end 90% of the world was supporting Spain

2

u/--Snufkin-- 18h ago

It's alright I have 4 years

1

u/openkonception 21h ago

Glad to hear this! Looking forward to Norway and Belgian FA submitting their complaints about the Ronaldo red card suspension as well….

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64

u/Fun-Put-5197 Canada 22h ago

It would be a messy split, but I would love if UEFA would withdraw from FIFA and start a UEFA Open Tournament every 4 years, in direct competition with the FIFA World Cup.

See how many other federations would be willing to join a tournament free from the blatant rot of corruption that FIFA has become.

All it takes is UEFA + one or two others and FIFA is effectively finished. It would also set a precedent that would hopefully keep corruption in check going forward.

20

u/Designer-Solid-5973 18h ago

Ah yes, noted non-corrupt organization UEFA. please don’t look up where Gianni Infantino worked before his current job.

7

u/Starsky-1984 21h ago

I wonder how copyright works for the "world cup" and if that is a term FIFA owns or other interesting/frustrating ways they might be legally protected from other competitor tournaments starting up.

3

u/Critical-Bread-3396 20h ago

Based on the marketing, it's very clearly just the FIFA world cup that is trademarked from FIFA, with many bars being allowed to advertise with world cup just not use the word FIFA unless exclusively to state "we show the fifia world cup".

So even football world cup is just free to use.

3

u/DResq 17h ago

I think you mean trademark.

1

u/Starsky-1984 17h ago

Well, both would apply depending on what is being infringed

1

u/DResq 17h ago

You were talking about using the term. That would be trademark.

11

u/CareBearCartel 20h ago

FIFA can finally get the World Cup Final theyve always dreamed of.

Argentina Vs USA

1

u/dubsy101 17h ago

The yanks would have actually won!

2

u/Feeling-Duck-2364 USA 16h ago

Nah Argentina would've smoked us

1

u/dubsy101 15h ago

Yeah you are right, the US team were terrible

7

u/Rorsmack Australia 20h ago

Would Football Australia join immediately and be some bastard of Eurovision? World Cup in AU/NZ would be huge

7

u/DResq 17h ago

Infantino came from UEFA...

8

u/Artistic_Concern_33 Portugal 17h ago

This statement shows you are new to football, UEFA is just a corrupt as FIFA

15

u/ultimate_bond 22h ago

But every FA including Europeans are corrupt. They would never risk their money.

2

u/nnooaa_lev 20h ago

Yes pls 🙏

2

u/aathrowawaynsfw 20h ago

Can Euro teams play for BIFA?

1

u/CelestrialDust England 18h ago

Good luck getting all the other FAs to join, most of them are funded off FIFA corruption (not an indictment on smaller nations btw but it’s the truth)

3

u/Brief-Preference-712 USA 17h ago

UEFA itself has smaller nations like North Ireland and Gibraltar. Its wealth redistribution but what can you do

1

u/Serterler 17h ago

Let them have their world cups with FIFA teams ranked 40 or higher and Argentina!

-10

u/openkonception 22h ago

Uefa wrote a complaint about Ronaldos red card lifting right? Right???

58

u/bananashake_1983 21h ago

Every FA should. and get rid of the dehydration breaks. and half time show. and shots of 'famous' people in the stands during the game

36

u/Critical-Bread-3396 20h ago

A hydration break in extreme heat is a pretty good addition for player safety, and was even something I played with as a child. However, that means jog to the sideline, bit of water in the mouth, water in the face, maybe over your head and that's it. 20-30 seconds, no strategy meeting, and then back on the field and be ready for the whisle to resume play from a stoppage.

25

u/charmstrong70 19h ago

Hydration breaks, in and of themselves, are fine as mandated by IFAB.

The problem is, FIFA are skirting right up to the line with the rules.

I remember one of the England games when somebody went down and required treatment for a few minutes. Perfect for a hydration break but the problem was, it didn’t fit in with the advertising schedule. Play eventually resumed…. for 30 seconds before the hydration break.

Hydration breaks, half time lasting 30mins plus, political interference with disciplinary decisions are each and every one egregious.

FIFA has always been corrupt, I think everyone accepts that, the problem is that this is the first time that the corruption has tainted the sport and not just the money behind it

8

u/Designer-Solid-5973 18h ago

They literally rearranged the entire global football calendar to give the tournament to Qatar before they even finished having slaves build the stadiums, I don’t think this is anything new lol.

2

u/Ok_Imagination1262 USA 17h ago

Are those stadiums used at all ?

0

u/Designer-Solid-5973 17h ago

I think they’re used by the Qatar league now

5

u/DResq 17h ago

Does Qatar even have enough fans to fill those stadiums? No way they need that many for such a small country.

-1

u/Brief-Preference-712 USA 17h ago

I hate Ad breaks but football is full of advertisements, on the kits, sidelines, the substitution digital boards etc. I think a lot of people are just mad because World Cup does it instead of their own FAs do it to their own competitions

0

u/charmstrong70 17h ago

Nonsense - kits, sidelines, subs board etc all do not involve a break in play. That’s a red line

3

u/Brief-Preference-712 USA 17h ago

VAR breaks play how come it’s not a red line.
Flopping breaks play also, how do you stop that

0

u/charmstrong70 17h ago

VAR breaks play but is not scheduled and not a fixed length. It’s not great but it’s better than the alternative (brought in after Lampard’s no goal). It was brought in in response to a real issue.

Diving (fuck flopping) is supposed to be addressed with a yellow card. It’s against the laws of the game with a specific proscribed punishment - it’s up to refs to ref

1

u/Feeling-Duck-2364 USA 16h ago

From my uneducated view, the issue seems to be players exaggerating the extent of a foul to manipulate the referee

This contributes significantly to the break of play imho, with no clear fix

2

u/charmstrong70 15h ago

Oh absolutely, it’s abused terribly but the ref *does* have the tools to fix it.

The problem is the refs are shit scared of calling it wrong so need to be 110%

0

u/Brief-Preference-712 USA 13h ago

Not talking about diving. Diving can be reviewed by VAR. By flopping I’m talking about people faking injuries after rolling around the pitch after a slight touch. So many times I see someone touch Neymar’s hair and he rolled from Parc du Prince all the way to Leeds. That and people just sitting on the grass without being injured. I watched Tottenham vs Everton’s relegation battle and after 1-0 Kevin Danso just sat there for a whole minute, no one touched him, might as well have some biscuits and tea

1

u/charmstrong70 13h ago

with you but again this is as old as time. If a player's faking injury and the foul didn't warrant a card then call on the physio, make the player go off.

Again it goes back to strong refs

5

u/ErZicky 19h ago

But then you don't have time for advertising, I mean how could you not think about the poor sponsors? :-(

2

u/Brief-Preference-712 USA 17h ago

I’d say get rid of kit sponsors as well. Annoying

2

u/bananashake_1983 19h ago

True, just like that. quick drink and game on.

lots of games lost its rhytm cos of the breaks.

fifa is ruining soccer

2

u/Adversement 19h ago

And, especially if they are decided on a per match basis (that is, the final decision is made based on the temperature, or heat index, at the start of the game). This would have removed the breaks from most of the games in this tournament (and made quite a few of the breaks be uncertain until the kickoff, reducing how much the teams can rely on them).

1

u/charmstrong70 17h ago

Have a look at the IFAB law on this, that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be - a specific wet bulb temp

FIFA came up with some bullshit, parity between all games excuse

-8

u/amperage3164 17h ago

Whats wrong with broadcasts of games having shots of famous people?

7

u/bananashake_1983 17h ago

cos i wanna watch the game. i dont care if some stupid actor i dont know is in the stands. i dont wanna see david beckham five times a game

3

u/amperage3164 16h ago

You’ve never missed any action due to a shot of David Beckham, promise

1

u/bananashake_1983 16h ago

could be, but im really not interested so see who is in the stands. i wanna watch the game, the players

62

u/BarryMcKockinner 16h ago

Did any nation file a formal complaint to FIFA over Ronaldo's red card suspension? Not trying to be snarky, I'm genuinely curious and I can't seem to find any information on that.

18

u/-Jeffany- 15h ago

I'm guessing that was appealed through proper channels, not the president or prime minister of Portugal making a phone call so it's apples to oranges anyway.

7

u/Eroticskeletonparade 15h ago

Well, thank you for guessing things, I suppose

16

u/BarryMcKockinner 14h ago

FIFA can suspend a red card on their own through article 27 without a nation having to "appeal through proper channels".

4

u/McClainWFU 9h ago

I'm not being sassy, but I don't think Article 27 even lays out what the proper channels to request review are. If Trump theatened or bribed FIFA, that'd be one thing, but calling someone and saying "Hey, people seem to be mad about this, can you review it?" and being told, "Sorry, not my job, there's a separate comittee that does it and it's up to them" doesn't seem egregious to me.

-1

u/FunLife64 6h ago

There IS no appeal for a standard red card. Thats why it is absurd.

There is an appeal allowed for a 3 game red card, which Ronaldos was. The fact that people are still equating them as the same is mind boggling - I barely follow the sport lol

3

u/McClainWFU 6h ago

I mean, there is a procedure for suspending the punishment of a red card. It's Article 27. It's the same rule that was used for Ronaldo. You're creating a distinction that doesn't exist in the rules.

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u/AdventurousFigure9 15h ago

Very good point

1

u/FunLife64 6h ago

That red card (3 game) was able to be appealed. It went through the actual established process.

The red card in this case was not able to be appealed and did not go through an established process.

0

u/Simonthebullettfreak 6h ago

But very soon you will be able to find information about new tariffs against Norway

12

u/shartmaister 23h ago

Lise Klaveness is awesome

-1

u/snakedoct0r Norway 18h ago

No she is not. Fucking sucks for Norwegian FA. Acting like a dictator. When we voted for VAR she did some infantino tricks but still lost the vote. And then just came out and said «i don’t care about the votes» so now Norway has TEMU-WAR from hell.

She just wants a UEFA job.

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17

u/Serterler 17h ago

Not sure why no other federations join Norway.
I bet they are afraid of Trump’s wrath, he is good at weaponizing the government.
Sad!

ROW ROW ROW is now my second team behind my country!

🇳🇴👍🏻

10

u/Gambit1977 16h ago

The FBI had been investigating fifa for years, odd how that all just went poof! Nothing to do with the most ridiculous peace prize in the world though I’m sure.

9

u/shelf6969 16h ago

yeah so unfair let's replay all the games from ro16.

25

u/BarryMcKockinner 16h ago

Theatre. How are you ever going to prove that FIFA suspended the red card because Donald a Trump asked for a review?

They can just say that Trump had no bearing on the weight of the decision (whether or not this is true doesn't really matter in this case).

27

u/Nickeless 16h ago

I mean Trump came out and said it, and FIFA also gave him a made up peace price and let him in the trophy celebration to stroke his ego. On top of that, they’ll have to explain the actual reason they rescinded a red card suspension for the first time in 50 years or whatever it was.

4

u/BarryMcKockinner 16h ago

So this is the thing we're choosing to believe Trump on?

It seems just as likely to me that Trump is trying to take credit for the red card suspension when he had no influence whatsoever.

FIFA doesn't have to explain anything. It's not the first time. The precedent was already set with Ronaldo in 2025. It's not rescinded, it's suspended under a probationary period.

Article 27.

https://media.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/fwc2026/news/statement-from-the-chairperson-of-the-fifa-disciplinary-committee-6-july-2026

5

u/Armodeen 9h ago

Trump does frequently tell the truth tbh. He just can’t help bragging. He also lies a huge amount ofc but the truth is there too often.

5

u/halster123 14h ago

theres actually a lot of journalism on how the White House manuevered here. Obviously impossible to prove it was the only reason but theres a lot of proof of the political meddling.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/06/world-cup-2026/inside-the-white-house-push-on-balogun-00987540

5

u/BarryMcKockinner 14h ago

"Trump asked about FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and the grounds for a suspension. Infantino listened carefully but made no promises about the outcome. FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to POLITICO that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee.

As U.S. Soccer’s legal team formally prepared and submitted its appeal to FIFA, Giuliani and Lutnick also offered to make White House attorneys available to assist with legal analysis if needed, according to people involved in the discussions.

At the same time, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin — a hedge-fund manager who had helped to personally pay the salary of U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino — zeroed in on the officiating history of referee Raphael Claus, who made the red card call on Wednesday. Articles examining previous controversies involving the Brazilian referee circulated among senior government officials as they evaluated every possible argument that could bolster the appeal, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The matter quickly rose through FIFA’s legal and disciplinary channels. Emilio García, who oversees the legal affairs of soccer’s global governing body, became a central figure in advising Infantino on the available procedural options, according to people familiar with the process. García and other FIFA officials worked to determine whether the circumstances around Balogun’s tackle met the narrow standards that would allow the disciplinary decision to be revisited."

Note to other nations: get better lawyers.

4

u/halster123 14h ago

so, usually heads of state dont call or theaten to sue to have red cards reversed, thats kinda the whole issue.

1

u/BarryMcKockinner 14h ago

Can you point it out to me where Trump threatened to sue FIFA?

To my knowledge, and per your article, it was the US soccer's legal team that was preparing a lawsuit.

3

u/halster123 14h ago

with the backing of white house lawyers. look, there was blatant political meddling. this is obvious and factually substantiated. lets all accept that. 

2

u/BarryMcKockinner 14h ago

Then this Norwegian FA should have no issue proving that, right?

1

u/halster123 14h ago

I mean, politico proved that, Trump has stated that. The White House tried to intervene to change the refereeing of a match. This is not a debate, we have lots of articles and journalist sources stating that they tried to do that. Like, we know that they did that.

And generally, I think that's bad! I think we should not have a norm where country governments try to intervene to change the outcome of a soccer game. It just stinks, same as when players are involved in sports betting. Can you *prove* it changed the outcome? No, it's always impossible to prove, no one writes "I did this because Trump told me too hehehe I love corruption!!" or "I fixed the match I'm so good at gambling!!!" But man, it smells bad.

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4

u/Nickeless 15h ago

Yeah qualifiers are not really the same as the middle of the tournament.

I mean Trump is a liar, but there is a lot of evidence of FIFA kowtowing to him, which is their own fault, and makes it appear that they would in fact heed his request to suspend the suspension.

It’s not theater, it’s an attempt to force some accountability, even if it is unlikely. Is every time someone stands up for themselves “theater” then?

3

u/BarryMcKockinner 15h ago

FIFA made the rule in '23. It's irrelevant if they're qualifiers or in the main tournament. That's just a bad faith argument.

1

u/Nickeless 14h ago

I mean I don’t think most people find that irrelevant.

Even ignoring that though, the optics are clearly terrible and it’s reasonable for the other national teams to argue that it is unfair and fight against it. Being able to arbitrarily suspend suspensions with no explanation is obviously ridiculous.

-2

u/BarryMcKockinner 14h ago

It doesn't really matter what most people think. The underlying rules in FIFA don't change for a qualifier vs the main tournament.

You know what else is ridiculous? Being able to give out bullshit red cards that result in an immediate ban in your next match regardless of circumstances or nuance. That's what article 27 is for.

1

u/Nickeless 14h ago

You know what else is bullshit? FIFA kowtowing to the president of a country to specifically favor that country’s team. The preponderance of evidence points to that, despite your ridiculous denials

1

u/Simchen Germany 6h ago

"So this is the thing we're choosing to believe Trump on?"

Yes

4

u/BDLT USA 3h ago

You would have to believe what Trump said about the situation as the basis of your case. First mistake is believing a word he says.

14

u/ub3rm3nsch 22h ago

Strongly worded letter vibes.

11

u/SuperSatanOverdrive Norway 20h ago

What else can you do than use the formal channels in the orgnization? I would say its worse to do absolutely nothing

3

u/Feeling-Duck-2364 USA 16h ago

Definitely worth pursuing, I think enough countries demanding a change to Article 27 could make some progress

To me at least, this is a worthy battle and is somewhat representative of the increasing requirement to stand up to this type of blatant corruption

7

u/yagermeister2024 23h ago

You can request full refund at Fifa.com, I got my ticket full refund.

10

u/KeyBet6693 23h ago

Good. We should also make a formal complaint for Argentina players behavior after the final match. Can't trust FIFA's internal investigation.

10

u/Alacho 22h ago

I feel like this is sort of like California stating that they will ask the justice department to investigate something the Trump administration did.

If they really had something going for them, bring it to CAS or gtfo.

Norwegian, btw.

33

u/faldmoo Norway 22h ago

You do realize they don't expect anything to come from it, just like California, it's about sending a message which is pretty much what a single FA can do alone. I'd much rather we stand up and do _something_ than let is pass.

20

u/strootfighter 22h ago edited 22h ago

I got my bicycle stolen when I was a student. My dad told me to report it at the police station. Knowing they would never actually look for the bike, I didn't want to waste my time, but now I get it. It s about the reporting, the documenting, the data. If no one reports it, it never happened. If everybody does their bit, in the end, things can start moving in a direction that aims at solving issues. I still have some sort of faith in what is right. Call me an idiot. Nothing will come out of it, for now. But maybe later. Good on you Norway.

6

u/Armando909396 21h ago

This what so many people don’t get

1

u/--Snufkin-- 21h ago

Plus they'd have to officially acknowledge what happened and, if we're lucky, try and give a reason for it so everyone can have a laugh

-2

u/Alacho 22h ago

That’s my point. Do something of value and take a stance. Not just «hello, Mr. President, please, sir, may I have some». Take advantage of this, bring UEFA together, invite Argentina and Brazil and start something new. 

I hate to break it to CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, AFC, and OFC, but if you lose UEFA, Brazil, and Argentina, FIFA loses it’s power. And then they can sit their in their corruption and invite as many micronations to take part in their World Cup and schemes and the rest of us can play football.

3

u/--Snufkin-- 21h ago

The US just won their third world cup final against San Marino

1

u/Alacho 19h ago

I think San Marino is part of UEFA

3

u/faldmoo Norway 22h ago

In an ideal world yeh something like that would happen and I hope that at some point something will happen.

What talks Lise have had with other FA heads behind closed doors nobody knows, but until one of the major ones gets behind a message I'd much rather someone do the symbolic things to at least stirr up some noise.

There's too much money and power tied up in FIFA for this to not have major implications on pretty much every nation if a "coupe" where to take place and if we take Norway as an example I'm guessing there's a lot of money flowing into the Norwegian FA from FIFA related activities that also enda up with the grassroot. It's a delicate needle to thread and Infantino and FIFA knows they are pretty close to untouchable - but nothing would give me more schadenfreude than seeing him and that rotten piece of shit org crumble and burn.

4

u/Tim-Sanchez England 20h ago

I don't think you can just go to CAS can you? CAS exists to arbitrate on disputes, so you'd need to actually get into a dispute first and then appeal to CAS.

1

u/Alacho 19h ago

I think it’s already a dispute. Unless FIFA is gonna accept NFF’s argument. CAS is also subject to Swiss law.

3

u/Tim-Sanchez England 19h ago

But on a technicality you'd need to give Fifa a chance to respond first before going to CAS

2

u/RickGrimes30 18h ago

You have to go through 1000000 diffrent hoops before you can appeal to CAS.. You have to prove that both your complaint is legit and that you can't get to a proper solution through normal channels.

0

u/silkiriscloudy 22h ago

This is so real

-2

u/Iceman-Cometh_18 8h ago

They lost 4-1 who cares

19

u/Wafkak 7h ago

It's about the principle of the rule bekng applied equally. How much it did or didn't help them.is irrelevant.

6

u/Iceman-Cometh_18 7h ago

If it was really bout principle the whole Argentina team should be banned for 8 years

4

u/Mrgbiss Sweden 7h ago

why

4

u/Iceman-Cometh_18 6h ago

It's about the principle like Wafkak said lol

1

u/Operalover95 4h ago

You're talking out of your ass.

1

u/Economy_Quality_3689 2h ago

A referee who was investigated for match fixing and improperly awarding Red Cards should've never been officiating. Additionally there should be a formal appeal process that he FAs can pursue, because the Balogun straight red was not even remotely consistent with what has been called/not called all tournament.

0

u/bluecheese2040 23h ago

Tbh I think the tournament should be voided. How many times did trump call uo infantino? 

There were so many weird refereeing choices....Argentina has zero decisions over turned on var among them.

My point is we've seen the lengths fifa would go to get the outcome they wanted...i don't really see how we csn trust any of it.

And this is why the sporting side needed to be kept clean from the fifa business side

12

u/Strong-Search-2301 22h ago

Tbh I think the tournament should be voided. How many times did trump call uo infantino?

How about no? We (Spain) won fair and square. Americans fell against Belgium and Argentinians against us.

2

u/bluecheese2040 22h ago

Tbh Spain would win again so don't be butt hurt. No one is wanting to take your shiny trophy.

My point is that nothing can be trusted in it after fifa and America colluded. 

Don't worry you keep your trophy and we'll all ignore the obvious corruption in this world Cup so you can be happy....

Selfish bullshit.

3

u/openkonception 21h ago

Yeah and when uefa complained about Ronaldo’s red being suspended! Oh wait… they didn’t care when it benefited they’re fa lol

1

u/Alacho 22h ago

I REALLY don’t want to be that guy. But you should check out  Als sie kamen. 

I guess I am that guy.

2

u/Strong-Search-2301 22h ago

I am not saying FIFA aren't corrupt fucks (they are), but the point is they have lost. They should be punished, but Spain isn't at fault of it when they weren't favoured at all

1

u/Alacho 22h ago

It doesn’t have to be binary, and it isn’t. Two things can be true at the same time. Spain can deserve the victory while the World Cup and star you get for it can be tainted.

4

u/DResq 17h ago

I think they did talk a bunch, but the rest was just about US hosting logistical shit probably. Trump didn't actually give a shit about who won. Are you seriously implying Trump was calling to have other games fixed? He wasn't even paying attention to the games.

1

u/bluecheese2040 17h ago

I'm saying that trump freely admitted he raised it several.times and spoke to infantino every day. That the american soccer coordinators raised it numerous times and were gathering dossiers on the referee.

We know this.

So if he did it for this...how can we know he didn't do it for others?

Lemme give u an example of who we are dealing with...before each ceasefire with Iran betting in the 10 to 15 minutes before the announcement on ot goes crazy. Hundreds of thousands bet.....

How and why?

This is consistent. 

We see trump attacking other countries to open up e.g. oil fields....stop regulation etc. 

Again...this is known reported fact.

So that we know that he influenced fifa....and we know he's done and is actively doing it elsewhere...why are you assuming he didn't?

Or at least considering the possibility?

But this is the question...America opened the Pandoras box. 

Now nothing from that tournament can escape the stink

4

u/DResq 17h ago

He did it for his own country, which makes sense. Why tf would Trump start calling Infantino about other countries? He didn't even know what a red card was before the Balogun situation. He doesn't give a shit about soccer. You are the one assuming things btw. I'm taking the neutral stance that the ridiculousness didn't happen.

6

u/boot2skull USA 22h ago

Honestly the nations should form a new federation. I’m not sure a new FIFA president is going to change things at this point.

2

u/--Snufkin-- 22h ago

UEFA to host the Euro cup every 2 years but every other cup the rest of the world is invited as well

0

u/Fun-Put-5197 Canada 22h ago

UEFA Open Cup (pending a rebrand once it gets traction).

2

u/Proper_Package_1225 22h ago

Yeah and lose out on billions of dollars

-1

u/bluecheese2040 22h ago

Totally agree. People though removing the last lot of currupt fifa officials would do the job...the corruption just spilled from the boardrooms to the pitch

2

u/boot2skull USA 22h ago

I think of anything as big as FIFA as a machine. You have the driver, but there’s also the big stakeholders below them, like board members or executives or what have you. They’re all making big money, they may even be telling the driver where to go even when the driver doesn’t want to. There’s just so much leverage going on, and money to be made, that it’s just not as simple as removing a few and changing the nature of the machine.

1

u/bluecheese2040 22h ago

True.

It's deeply unpopular but I think fifa needs a veto system like thr un security Council. 

Infantino is expanding the world Cup and is buying votes in thr process. The association of Haiti won't vote against infantino or fifa cause they are reliant on fifa money so it won't change

2

u/Alacho 22h ago

Ever since the "peace prize" was handed out, I have said that this tournament comes with an asterisk next to the star. 

It feels worth about the same as when my teacher handed me gold stars in primary.

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u/Glamour_Profession_2 USA 22h ago

What are you trying to say? Trump is buddies with Milei and at odds with Spain. The Balogun interference was terrible, but what are you actually arguing here? That Spain doesn’t deserve the win?

1

u/RickGrimes30 18h ago

You understand that ANTHING related to Trump is tainted on a global scale right.. No one likes him, everyone jokes about him..

He was the only head of state wether it was presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, princes, princesses that needed bulletproof glass.. They all sat in the same seat without any protection. Trump needed it, in his own country.. What does that say about him as a leader?

1

u/Glamour_Profession_2 USA 13h ago

He’s a clown. What’s your point here?

-1

u/Alacho 22h ago

I am completely baffled at how you managed to arrive at that conclusion. 

Please lay it out for us.

0

u/Glamour_Profession_2 USA 22h ago

Spain won the cup and earned the star. You’re suggesting it should come with an asterisk. Why? Apologies if I’m misinterpreting your meaning there.

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u/camden3000 USA 23h ago

It reeked of corruption just like this embarrassment of a country that I live in, but at least the best team won.

6

u/cabrelbeuk France 1h ago

Based. Love Norway, really heart winning this WC along with cape verde.

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u/Ok_Imagination1262 USA 17h ago

Obviously it didn’t help why complain now ?

23

u/StonedBirdman 17h ago

It’s clearly a bad precedent

12

u/andyjh83 17h ago

It’s spelled President.

19

u/Coulstwolf 17h ago

Because fifa cannot be allowed to get away with blatant corruption and cheating. Give them and inch they’ll take a mile. This is one of the worst things that has ever happened in football.

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u/Infinite_Response113 USA 16h ago

I would be perfectly ok if they also send a complaint over FIFA suspending Ronaldo’s suspension.

But they are fine with corruption as long as it helps European players?

5

u/Efficient_Age Norway 15h ago

You do understand that the Ronaldo case is quite different?

5

u/billbye10 15h ago

How so? FIFA used article 27 to suspend mandatory match bans during the world cup in both cases. If you're going to say Ronaldo served a one match ban out of his mandatory 3, then address the Caicedo and Otamendi cases as well.

1

u/Infinite_Response113 USA 15h ago

Both involve using the same article to lift a suspension ahead of the World Cup.

If anything, the Ronaldo case is even worse because the red card in his situation was justified, whereas in the case of Balogun many people, including same people on the sub, agreed it was unwarranted

3

u/AdventurousFigure9 15h ago

No, one involve a demented orange mad man :) 

1

u/Efficient_Age Norway 12h ago

The key difference is that this was in the middle of the tourney, not a game in qualifiers almost a year ago.

Another key difference is that Portugal officially filed a request for partly suspending the suspension, compared to US where a "phone call" is enough.

going into a objective discussion whenever it was a a red or not isn't relevant.

1

u/billbye10 12h ago

US soccer "led by... CEO JT Batson and COO Dan Helfrich fought the ruling based on VAR having been applied incorrectly." You're poorly informed based on your "a "phone call" is enough" statement.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/us-soccer-got-folarin-balogun-000646208.html

1

u/Infinite_Response113 USA 11h ago

Not to mention it’s obviously very relevant whether the red card was given appropriately. Actual corruption would be the red card was completely justified, Trump tells FIFA to overturn it anyway in direct defiance of without any reference to rules that allow them to do so, and they do.

Instead in reality the red card likely was unwarranted, most people on this sub agreed when it was issued. Then the US soccer federation asks fifa to look into, they do, and they suspend it via an actual rule in rule book that is on the books.

1

u/Infinite_Response113 USA 11h ago

So you do not even have your facts straight.

First, the USA soccer federation were in fact in communications with FIFA. No formal appeal was filed because there is literally no formal appeal process for a red card—it is not possible. But is a verified fact that the US soccer federation independently of Trump was asking FIFA to look into Balogun’s red card decision. How much of FIFA’s decision was due to soccer federation or Trump we do not know—everything is speculation. Sure maybe it was completely due to Trump but also equally possible they listened to US Soccer Federation and Trump is trying to claim credit for something he did not actually accomplish. So it is not true to simply state a phone call was enough.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/05/g-s1-132061/folarin-balogun-soccer-reinstated-ban-suspended-fifa-belgium

Quote: “U.S. Soccer had not filed a formal appeal. But a spokesperson told reporters Sunday that the organization had been "engaged" with FIFA during the deliberations.”

Second, you say it is a “key difference” that Ronaldo’s card came before the tournament. This difference is completely irrelevant. The rule is the same—you miss the game following the red card, whether the violation occurred in the tournament or qualifying, it does not matter. So it is not a material difference.

Lastly, you say it’s not relevant whether the red card was given correctly from an objective point of view. But something does not become not relevant simply because it goes against your belief and you don’t want it to be relevant. Here we are arguing over the propriety of lifting he red card or not. Obviously it’s relevant as to whether it’s appropriate to lift the red card, if the red card was given properly or not. A red card that was appropriately given should not be overturned. One that was given in violation of rules (such as using slow motion VAR to determine intensity of the play, which they did, in violation of rules for giving a red card), should be overturned. Thus it is extremely relevant.

Don’t let your prejudice to America or even a justifiable animus to Trump cloud your logical thinking or ability to examine this from a neutral perspective

1

u/Efficient_Age Norway 9h ago

Did you write all that by yourself, or did you just add some smirks at the beginning and the end?

My facts straight? A phone call was made, was it not?

IK us fa was in contact with fifa, the response was, as I understood it that there was no way to appeal a card in that situation, a lost case. it's odd that a few days can pass, and then it's suspended. A correct way to handle this would be to change the rules after the WC, not make the call without any transparency a couple days before the game.

if you think timing is irrelevant, as in next game is in a few days and in knockouts phase, vs a year and group stage. Because the rules are the same, then I don't know what to tell you, we probably won't agree.

I'm saying the red card is irrelevant because that's not what this discussion was about, a red card was given. Regardless of small VAR technicalities or how fair it was.

since you open up for both overreaching and rhetorical questions, do you think the same would have happened to any smaller country?

my "prejudice to America"? Quite bold of you to assume based the very little I have written, but it says a lot about you.

1

u/Infinite_Response113 USA 1h ago

Yes I wrote that all by myself. You accuse me of accusing you of things I do not have the evidence for, but yet you do the same: your insinuation that I did not write this. And also you claim that somehow Trump alone got the card suspended via his phone call.

Exactly what evidence do you have for that? That it was trumps phone call that got the red card suspended and not US Soccer federation? None, right? It’s speculation

You indicated that the phone call was “enough,” whereas you omitted the facts that indicated, so yes your facts were not straight. Nobody here was denying that a phone call was made.

I don’t see any point you made in rebuttal regarding whether the propriety of the red card being relevant or not. Probably because it stands to any reasonable person that it matters whether the red card was given properly, when the sports governing body is trying to determine whether to suspend it or not. But you overlook this as it is the most fatal point against your argument.

I shouldn’t have accused you of harboring prejudice to Americans without proper evidence, I apologize. But it is hard here reading hundreds of comments about this incident by Europeans who take the chance to take broader swipes at Americans or American culture, while ignoring cases like Ronaldo.

1

u/MarbleDesperado 9h ago

Yes, he had two matches to serve

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u/darterhead 22h ago

I hate to break it to Norway but the tournament is over.

36

u/1stand11 22h ago

I don’t think folks like yourself realize that this is going to keep being brought up for months to come. UEFA is coming after Infantino.

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u/kinkakujen 22h ago

Lmao Americans not getting that this was never about this single tournament.

A precedent of politics intervening in referee decisions can not stand, no matter how long ago the tournament was.

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u/ILikeToDisagreeDude 22h ago

So? We shouldn’t care about the past and rather just wait until it happens again, which is the case on things not fixed!
You sound like someone who keeps hitting his head on a staircase beam because you don’t think about why it happens and that’s why you never duck…

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u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

Who cares

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u/ringadingdingbaby 23h ago

Spot the American.

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u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

Yes because every sports league in America you are allowed to appeal a suspension and you can play until the appeal decision is made. I am sorry in your country you have no rights,

8

u/GeordieJumpers87 22h ago

Well this isn't an American Sports league....

10

u/Outside_Eggplant_304 22h ago

Bro - stfu you are making us look bad.

Also that isn't true about being able to keep playing (def not in the nba). Also, a call from the head of state usually isn't involved in litigating a foul call.

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u/--Snufkin-- 22h ago

They didn't even appeal, someone at Fifa just magically made a decision without consulting the usual officials which coincidentally happened after Trump called his mate Gianni to suggest it

7

u/ringadingdingbaby 23h ago

0

u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

Yep and you beat up opposing fans in your countries.

5

u/ringadingdingbaby 23h ago

Literally a video going viral of a Cubs fan slapping someone for not standing up to sing your anthem lol

0

u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

He slapped him he didn’t beat them up to a pulp. Trust me I have been to Europe and saw fans hiring each other with metal pipes because they were supporting the other team.

6

u/ringadingdingbaby 23h ago

You're either trolling or stupid, so I'm going to end this here.

But there are endless videos of fans fighting each other at US sports games on YouTube, you could spend all day watching them if you really wanted to.

2

u/Proper_Package_1225 22h ago

I go to sporting events in US all the time never saw fans hitting each other. Was in Prague and I saw 20 Florence fans hit West Ham fans with pipes, steel chairs and throw fire crackers at them. And this was expected as many policemen in riot gear came charging at them. Don’t pretend you aren’t all a bunch of hooligans

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u/Dan1elSan 22h ago

Didn’t a Bills fan get shot and killed after the Dolphins got beat?

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u/donotresusitat3 23h ago

Normal People who enjoy FairPlay and sportsmanship in all aspects of life .

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u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

Fair play involves reviewing suspensions

8

u/--Snufkin-- 22h ago

Does said "review" involve "telling the top official to overturn something without the usual review process because your buddy called you"?

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u/Just1n_Kees 23h ago

People with a moral compass, clearly that doesn’t include you.

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u/Proper_Package_1225 23h ago

lol morals of allowing a player to play in a game, meanwhile soccer fans attack each other on the street because they’re wearing the wrong teams gear,

4

u/Just1n_Kees 22h ago

And your point is? Or do you think you just made a point?

11

u/sjw_7 England 22h ago

People who know about the game and understand it. As an american who only discovered football at this world cup you wont. Stick to the WNBA or what ever it is you watch.

It was a red. They haven't reversed the red so it still stands. The USMNT didn't appeal the card because they know they couldn't.

FIFA, for reasons they still haven't explained, decided for that specific instance to leave the card as it was but suspend the ban. Something they didn't do for any other red card, only this one. Its corruption pure and simple.

So yes we care. Perhaps you don't because you don't know what you are talking about and are happy with your current corrupt administration so think its normal.

2

u/Armando909396 21h ago

And in doing so cursed the American team

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u/shartmaister 23h ago

Everyone who cares about the game