Despite the storm surrounding Folarin Balogun’s overturned red-card suspension, Gianni Infantino’s grip on the Fifa presidency remains as firm as ever.
Balogun has been the standout player of the tournament for the United States, scoring three goals as co-hosts during the 2026 World Cup.
He was sent off during the group stage against Bosnia-Herzegovina but has been cleared to play in the last-16 tie against Belgium after his suspension was cancelled.
World Cup rules do not permit appeals against red card bans, making the reversal an unprecedented move that has left football’s governing structures looking deeply compromised.
US President Donald Trump confirmed he personally intervened, telling reporters “I’m the one that got them to do it” when asked whether he had contacted Infantino.
Trump added that “all” he did was ask for a review and insisted he did not tell Infantino to overturn the ban, but the admission alone has sent shockwaves through the football world.
Infantino rejected suggestions of political interference, insisting that the disciplinary committee operated independently, though perception in these situations carries enormous weight.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was damning in his assessment, saying “this is our sport, not theirs” and adding that “if Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into question.”
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who was forced to resign in 2015 amid a corruption scandal, also waded in, writing on X that “football must never become a playground for political power.”
Uefa escalated its opposition on Tuesday, declaring that Fifa had “crossed a red line” and labelling the Balogun decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”
This is not the first flashpoint between the two governing bodies, with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin leading a walk-out of European delegates at the Fifa Congress in May 2025 after Infantino arrived over two hours late.
Fifa’s statutes are explicit in forbidding political interference, and countries including Pakistan have been suspended from international football three times in eight years for government involvement in their national associations.
Human rights group FairSquare complained to Fifa’s ethics committee in December over Infantino’s political neutrality after he presented Trump with the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize at the World Cup draw.
Fifty MEPs subsequently wrote to the ethics committee demanding action, but like many complaints directed at Fifa, no response has been forthcoming.
Despite the European backlash, the mathematics of Fifa’s election process make it almost impossible to remove Infantino, who is due for re-election in 2027.
Conmebol’s ten South American nations confirmed their backing in April, followed by the Confederation of African Football’s 54 member associations and then the Asian Football Confederation’s 47 nations.
That gives Infantino at least 111 declared votes, comfortably clearing the 106 needed for victory across Fifa’s 211 member associations.
Infantino was re-elected unopposed in both 2019 and 2023, and it would take something truly remarkable for any credible challenger to emerge before 2027.
His Fifa Forward programme has funded football development projects worldwide, and the expanded 48-team World Cup has given nations like Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan the chance to compete on the biggest stage.
This year, Fifa is expected to generate $9bn in revenue, money that funds the development projects upon which smaller football federations across the world depend, giving Infantino a loyalty base that Europe’s criticism simply cannot erode.
