President Donald Trump personally intervened to overturn a red card suspension against U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun — and Belgium is furious.
FIFA lifted the one-game suspension after Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to challenge the ruling. Belgian officials are now vowing to evaluate “all potential options” in response.
Trump celebrated the reversal on Truth Social: “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
A White House source confirmed to The Daily Wire that Trump made the call to Infantino regarding the red card. The president informed the FIFA chief that attorneys were preparing to challenge the use of slow-motion instant replay — which Trump said violated FIFA rules — and that the red card had been excessive.
Outkick founder Clay Travis said sources told him Trump assembled a legal dream team to fight the suspension.
“President Trump, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and White House task force head Andrew Giuliani put together a team of elite lawyers — from outside the government — to challenge the Flo Balogun red card,” Travis reported.
“Specifically they challenged the use of slow motion instant replay to give the red card, which they argued violated FIFA rules. The president also conveyed to Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, that the appeal had been filed and he believed the red card penalty was excessive,” he added. “FIFA’s independent committee reviewed the decision and agreed the penalty was incorrectly given, rescinding it under their rule 27 authority.”
Sources: President Trump, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and White House task force head Andrew Giuliani put together a team of elite lawyers — from outside the government — to challenge the Flo Balogun red card. Specifically they challenged the use of slow motion instant…
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 5, 2026
The legal challenge hinged on a specific FIFA rule: slow-motion replay is only to be used to determine facts — where players were at the time of the offense or how contact occurred — and not to judge the severity of the offense. That, the rule states, should be determined by a replay at normal speed.
I am not entirely convinced this part of the VAR protocols was followed here. pic.twitter.com/W3GI2h3gxC
— Lars Sivertsen (@larssivertsen) July 2, 2026
Belgium’s Royal Football Association responded with a statement dripping with frustration.
“FIFA bases its decision on Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This provision states that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may decide to suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction,” the statement read.
“However, Article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly provides that a red card (sending-off) automatically results in a suspension for the team’s next match, as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup.”
The precedent was already set earlier in World Cup play. Portugal’s star player Cristiano Ronaldo had a suspension overturned in favor of a probationary period. Ronaldo, who was shown a red card and given a three-match suspension last November, only missed one match before FIFA suspended the remaining two-match ban, placing him on probation but allowing him to play in his team’s opening World Cup match.
The United States faces Belgium on Monday, July 6, in the Round of 16. Balogun will be on the field.
