FIFA boss Gianni Infantino broke the global soccer body’s own rules and fixed the scrapping of USMNT star Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card during a phone call with President Donald Trump, four sources briefed on the matter told The Post.
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sources → break → Post
The Swiss-Italian sports chief agreed to quash the forward’s suspension, breaching the global organization’s own disciplinary code, in talks with the commander-in-chief on July 1, the four FIFA insiders said.
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insiders → agree → July
“He told President Trump that he would take care of it.
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he → tell → it
One call and it was done,” one of the sources told The Post.
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one → do → Post
Balogun was sent off during his side’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning he would have been ineligible for the key clash against Belgium without Infantino’s extraordinary intervention.
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he → send → intervention
He previously claimed that he had no involvement with the decision.
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he → claim → decision
It could put fresh pressure on Infantino, who angered soccer fans and federations alike when he secretly struck a deal to sell off FIFA’s commercial rights to Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital.
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he → put → Capital
The Post broke the story that the plan had been scrapped amid the outrage as Infantino eyes a fourth term at the top of global soccer in FIFA’s presidential election this March.
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Infantino → break → election
Leaked documents obtained by The Post show the shadowy Zurich-based organization is quietly rewriting its disciplinary code.
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organization → leak → code
Late Tuesday night, just 36 hours before a high-stakes crisis summit in Switzerland, the non-profit’s top brass sent a draft code change that forbids FIFA legal panels from suspending automatic one-game bans for red cards.
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that → send → cards
In an accompanying memo, FIFA officials claimed the rewrite is needed to ensure stability and protect the integrity of competitions.
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rewrite → accompany → competitions
Critics inside European soccer federations say the midnight filing is an admission of guilt.
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filing → say → guilt
They view the rule change as a retroactive attempt to cover up Infantino’s meddling in the Folarin Balogun case after outreach from President Donald Trump.
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They → view → Trump
Ironically, Balogun, who was also eligible to play for England and Nigeria, obtained birthright citizenship that the administration says it wants to ban.
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it → play → that
“All presidents and prime ministers hosting a World Cup would want to ask for a favor to be done in this situation,” said one soccer insider.
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insider → host → situation
“But the corruption is purely Infantino’s because he had to say: ‘We can’t change the rules, Mr President.”
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We → have → rules
After Trump contacted Infantino about the punishment, FIFA’s disciplinary panel took the unprecedented step of suspending the ban, allowing Balogun to play in the next 4-1 defeat against Belgium.
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Balogun → contact → Belgium
The decision sparked fury across Europe.
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decision → spark → Europe
Last week, Norwegian soccer boss Lise Klaveness filed an ethics complaint accusing Infantino of breaking political neutrality rules, citing both the US red card reprieve and Infantino’s creation of a FIFA peace prize for Trump.
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Klaveness → file → Trump
Now, internal memos circulating among soccer bigwigs show FIFA’s leadership is trying to pretend its rulebook had a loophole all along.
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rulebook → circulate → loophole
“There was never a doubt nor lack of clarity on how the automatic suspension following a red card is to be served,” states an internal briefing document circulated ahead of Thursday’s meeting.
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document → be → meeting
“This is a way for FIFA to cure the handling of the Balogun case during the World Cup.”
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FIFA → cure → Cup
A package of historical directives attached to the briefing shows FIFA has banned exceptions to one-game red card suspensions for more than 20 years.
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FIFA → attach → years
FIFA circulars from 2002, 2003 and 2005 reviewed by The Post state that mandatory one-game bans can only be waived if a referee cards the wrong player by mistake.
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referee → review → mistake
Even an Oct. 22, 2002, memo from US Soccer warned American leagues that associations cannot pass exceptional rules to avoid mandatory red card bans.
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associations → warn → bans
The rulebook fight adds to a growing revolt against Infantino by European soccer leaders ahead of Thursday’s meeting.
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fight → add → meeting
UEFA threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments over Infantino’s secret push for a $20 billion commercial privatization deal involving Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and his brother Joshua Kushner’s firm, Thrive Capital.
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UEFA → threaten → law
UEFA, which is also based in Switzerland, later went to federal court in Florida seeking subpoenas against Thrive Capital as Infantino skipped a planned Hamptons meeting with financiers.
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Infantino → base → financiers
Its attorneys believe the FIFA chief may have broken Swiss law.
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chief → believe → law
The Times of London reported on Tuesday that tax filings showed a US World Cup subsidiary paid Infantino an undeclared $1.76 million in 2024, including more than $620,000 for a luxury Miami housing allowance, alongside a $3.57 million FIFA lease for an empty office in Manhattan’s Trump Tower.
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subsidiary → report → Tower
This newspaper has reported how Infantino has been crisscrossing the globe in a Qatar-registered private jet in a bid to shore up his position, even dipping into FIFA funds to pay for his own PR.
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Infantino → report → PR
The Aporia
