Trump’s demand for a red card review has now become a global test of FIFA’s political neutrality.

President Donald Trump’s personal appeal to FIFA President Gianni Infantino may have helped suspend the red card awarded to one of the U.S. men’s national team’s top strikers, but it may also have put FIFA’s credibility and its billions of advertising dollars on the line.

Folarin Balogun, the American forward who until Monday night’s controversial match had scored in every game he played at the 2026 World Cup, was expected to miss the round of 16 against Belgium after receiving a red card for a tackle in the Americans’ 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina last week. But after Trump and his team called out Infantino and FIFA subsequently suspended Balogun’s one-match ban, many pointed to the federation’s strict political interference rules and how FIFA has enforced them in the past — and didn’t this time.

On Sunday, FIFA suspended Balogun’s one-match suspension for a one-year probationary period, allowing the American number 20 to play on Monday while fining him $40,000. It was the first time since 1962 that a red card during the tournament did not result in a match suspension for a player. Hours before the start of the match, FIFA ruled Belgium’s appeal “inadmissible” and therefore had no grounds to appeal the decision. Balogun ended up playing in a game that, following a disastrous mistake by the USMNT defensive end, saw Belgium lead 3-1 before the Belgian national team scored another with less than a minute and a half remaining, thus concluding the USMNT’s World Cup run.

After the match, the Belgian national team posted a photo on social media of star striker Romelu Lukaku, tagged with his Serie A club Napoli, with the caption “Flip that”. Lukaku scored the goal almost in the last minute.

Regardless of the final score of 4-1, the match could very well be overshadowed by FIFA’s controversial decision to suspend Balogun’s red card, a move reminiscent of past scandals and which some say goes against its own rules aimed at avoiding foreign interference.

FIFA’s own rules require its member associations to be politically neutral, and it has enforced this rule harshly in the past. In 2022, world football’s governing body suspended Kenya and Zimbabwe for government interference in the activities of the two countries’ football associations. During their suspension, both countries’ national teams were disqualified from qualifying for that year’s edition of the Africa Cup of Nations and their football associations were denied any funding from FIFA. The suspensions were then lifted for Kenya and Zimbabwe, in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The largest audience in history

In this year’s edition of the World Cup, the stakes are even higher. With an expanded format of 48 teams hosted between a record three nations, the United States, Mexico and Canada, the tournament has already generated approximately seven billion views across Fox Sports’ digital and social platforms, Variety reported. Due to the massive viewership level, brands are also expected to invest $10.5 billion in the tournament which concludes on July 19, according to WARC Media.

Yet these companies aren’t just buying looks, but also the belief that the World Cup is fair. They would likely be hesitant to associate their brands with a tournament that fans view as politically manipulated.

For his part, Infantino said in a statement that the disciplinary commission that requested the suspension of the red card is independent. He said he informed Trump of their appeal that the appeal review process was ongoing and would be decided by FIFA’s independent judicial body.

When contacted for comment. A FIFA spokesperson referred Fortune to public statements by Infantino and the chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee.

FIFA did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Still, it is difficult for some to trust FIFA’s process when it has battled corruption in the past. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted several FIFA officials on a litany of charges stemming from an alleged kickback scheme related to media and marketing rights.

While many American fans feel Balogun’s punishment was too harsh, the idea that a powerful head of state could seek a review of an on-field appeal reeks of impropriety to most, even if it’s not outright corruption.

Shortly after the U.S. men’s national team’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House World Cup Task Force Executive Director Andrew Giuliani, who were present at the match, called Trump and attempted to challenge the decision. Trump then called Infantino to request a review even though there is no established procedure for appealing a red card decision, the New York Times reported.

Trump insisted at a news conference Monday that he did not order Infantino to do anything, but admitted to asking for a review.

“I didn’t say [Infantino] what to do. I can’t tell him what to do and I don’t believe he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision. And they made the right decision,” Trump said at a news conference Monday.

When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson referred Fortune to President Trump’s comments during Monday’s press conference.

Global controversy

FIFA’s U-turn on the issue immediately sparked a wave of criticism across Europe that could cause even more problems for the organization in the long term.

UEFA, European football’s governing body, criticized the decision to suspend Balogun’s red card as having “crossed a red line”.

Separately, after FIFA ruled its appeal against Balogun’s overthrow inadmissible, the Royal Belgian Football Federation said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” by what happened and said it threatened the interests of football. The Royal Belgian Football Federation and the American Football Federation did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

The director and co-founder of human rights group FairSquare, Nicholas McGeehan, also added that FIFA’s governance structure was “rotten” and that the scandal could prevent Infantino from serving another term as FIFA president. He is re-elected in March 2027.

The Royal Belgian Football Federation and the American Football Federation did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Furthermore, thanks to FIFA’s actions, the floodgates of appeals, sanctioned or not, have opened.

Already, the French Football Federation announced Monday that it had asked FIFA to cancel the yellow card awarded to midfielder Michael Olise during the round of 16 match against Paraguay. The federation said its appeal had nothing to do with the suspension of Balogun’s red card, The Athletic reported.

After England’s 3-2 win over Mexico on Sunday, head coach Thomas Tuchel was also asked whether, given Balogun’s red card suspension, his team would attempt to challenge a red card given to defender Jarell Quansah during the match.

Tuchel did not say he would appeal the decision, but made it clear that FIFA’s decision could have dangerous consequences.

“Where do we draw the line, that’s the question I’m asking. I don’t have an answer to that question. Where does it stop now?” he said.

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