Balogun suspension row sparks fresh questions over Infantino’s FIFA power

Donald Trump said he called Gianni Infantino to ask FIFA to review Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension, and FIFA then suspended Balogun’s automatic one-match ban, clearing him to play Belgium in the World Cup round of 16.

The sequence set off accusations that football’s governing body had crossed a red line by bowing to political pressure. FIFA insisted its judicial bodies are independent and operate autonomously, but that assurance has done little to blunt the backlash around a decision that landed squarely in the middle of a high-stakes tournament.

In Brussels, the European Commission responded by calling for “fair play and transparent competition” in sport. The criticism has spread beyond officials in the EU, with football figures and politicians casting the episode as another test of how much outside power can shape decisions inside FIFA.

The row also reaches directly into Infantino’s own position. He has been FIFA president since 2016 and is due for re-election next year, giving the controversy more symbolic than immediate practical weight. Even so, it adds to a long list of headaches from his tenure, including the FIFA Peace Prize awarded to Trump in 2025, the Club World Cup and complaints over inflated World Cup ticket prices.

That history matters because Infantino has survived repeated storms without losing control of the organization. His close public relationship with Trump, reinforced by the 2025 prize, gives him an ally with direct access to the sport’s top office at a moment when the World Cup is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The latest backlash may dominate headlines, but it does not on its own appear strong enough to shake a president who has spent a decade building political protection inside FIFA.