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Interference by Trump in the World Cup.

(101 Posts)
NotSpaghetti Sun 05-Jul-26 23:46:07

Others may have seen this earlier but i think it's grim.
I've looked elsewhere but can't see it being discussed.

Donald Trump successfully intervened to have a crucial red card suspension of US striker Folarin Balogun lifted.
It was a studs on the ankle situation.

Trump phoned Gianni Infantino three times to complain about the decision

Under standard World Cup regulations, it is an automatic one-match ban for a straight red card... and it can not be challenged- even if it wasn't intentional

www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/05/folarin-balogun-red-card-suspension-lifted-usmnt-belgium-world-cup?hl=en-GB#:~:text=Balogun%20has%20been%20a%20constant,and%20reversing%20a%20great%20injustice!%E2%80%9D

Magenta8 Mon 06-Jul-26 16:53:50

Interestingly Folarin Balogun was brought up and trained in England. The reason he holds USA citizenship is under the 14th Amendment birthright rules.

Folarin Balogun's parents were visiting the USA and his mother was seven months pregnant, it was not considered safe for her to travel back to the UK so she gave birth to Folarin in the USA. The family travelled back to the UK as soon as it was considered safe for his mother to do so.

Ironically, it is well known that Trump wants the 14th Amendment birthright rules scrapped.

Oldnproud Mon 06-Jul-26 17:11:27

Smileless2012

If the manager has any integrity, he wont include him in the next game angry.

If the manager were to do that, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Trump then turned on him and made his life hell. He would probably take it as a personal slight and in his usual vindictive, petty way, would have to make someone pay 'bigly'for that. I can just imagine him calling it an unpatriotic act of treason!

wendyann23 Mon 06-Jul-26 17:16:00

Just hope Belgium beat the USA in the next round. If the USA do go on and win the tournament if will forever be tarnished by the corruption surrounding the red card decision. If the red card is overturned then so should all the other ones given in this tournament so that all countries are treated equally.

Padstow13 Mon 06-Jul-26 17:20:04

Did Trump bribe or blackmail Infantino? And just what does Trump know about football, if anything? He probably has never tried to play - after all, his infamous bone spurs prevented him from serving in Vietnam.

And boy, was he heartbroken about that..........

Fallingstar Mon 06-Jul-26 17:20:05

Well this doesn’t surprise me and ‘yes’ I think the US manager should keep Balogun on the bench if he has a backbone that surpasses his wish to win the World Cup.
But I won’t hold my breath.
If the US wins the game against Belgium they will have done so fraudulently.

monk08 Mon 06-Jul-26 18:03:41

Trump has admitted he didn't know what a red card meant shows how much he knows about football, even I know and I don't follow football.

sodapop Mon 06-Jul-26 19:47:08

FIFA now stands for Fixing it for America.

Smileless2012 Mon 06-Jul-26 19:53:52

Trum[ know what a red card is and if America wins their next match it will be well deserved and if they lose, the match will have been fixed!!!

Smileless2012 Mon 06-Jul-26 19:55:05

oops Trump doesn't know .......

Deedaa Mon 06-Jul-26 19:56:32

Well it looks as if the Olympics could be interesting. Shall we see the USA winning Gold Medals like the world has never seen before?

Dylis Mon 06-Jul-26 19:56:46

Looking forward to Trump taking his place as a referee tonight in the USA v Belgium match.
Nothing would surprise me!

dotpocka Mon 06-Jul-26 20:16:54

for barron

Mollygo Mon 06-Jul-26 21:19:13

sodapop

FIFA now stands for Fixing it for America.

Brilliant!

Deedaa

Well it looks as if the Olympics could be interesting. Shall we see the USA winning Gold Medals like the world has never seen before?

Oh no. Back in 1984 when USSR and other communist countries boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics I recall a song going round about it giving the US chance to win all the gold medals.
Others would have to be content with a bronze or maybe a silver.

Rosie51 Mon 06-Jul-26 21:31:19

If the American public have an ounce of integrity they will be condemning this interference and consequent decision. Surprisingly I’m not holding my breath, winning even by cheating seems OK. Come on Belgium, England showed the way to overcome the odds against!

petra Mon 06-Jul-26 21:44:02

Allegedly the Epstein files have come in useful again.
If true, those files are the gift that keeps on giving.

NotSpaghetti Tue 07-Jul-26 05:37:01

YES!
Belgium make light work of USA to set up quarter-final tie with Spain

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c24y8ded80vt

GrannyGravy13 Tue 07-Jul-26 05:48:04

Yippee!

Well done Belgium 👏👏👏

NotSpaghetti Tue 07-Jul-26 06:00:28

Do watch the highlights in the link!

Vintagewhine Tue 07-Jul-26 06:00:37

USA 1 Belgium The Orange Baby will struggle to change that score to show the USA actually won.

MawsRosie Tue 07-Jul-26 06:28:27

I think you could call it karma

Mollygo Tue 07-Jul-26 07:09:05

Vintagewhine

USA 1 Belgium The Orange Baby will struggle to change that score to show the USA actually won.

He will complain that the spectators made his player feel uncomfortable and unable to play to his best.
Karma!

Fallingstar Tue 07-Jul-26 07:20:12

Well done Belgium. The winners despite Trumps efforts to fix the game.
😄

Fallingstar Tue 07-Jul-26 07:32:35

Well FIFA are a joke.
I think there should be an investigation into game fixing after the World Cup.
Also makes me wonder how Trump won the election????

Fallingstar Tue 07-Jul-26 07:40:24

I think UEFA are on the war path.

Sadgrandma Tue 07-Jul-26 07:46:32

Well USA are out of the competition now anyway. Or will Trump ask for a replay!!