Infantino has long wooed rump

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Kinsey Crowley
USA TODAY NETWORK
July 6, 2026, 2:10 p.m. ET

U.S. Men's National Soccer Team forward Folarin Balogun received a red card and was booted from the July 1 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina after coming down on a defender's ankle. The red card came with an automatic one-game suspension that would have meant Balogun would have had to watch the U.S.A. vs Belgium Round of 16 game from the bench. But that punishment was suspended by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on July 5 in a surprising turn.

Trump confirmed reports on July 6 that he called Infantino asking for a review, as he believed it was not a foul ...

Before Trump's hawkish year in Venezuela and Iran, he received a brand new award from Infantino: the FIFA Peace Prize ...

Last summer, FIFA and the Trump Organization announced the soccer organization would open an office in Trump Tower, New York as part of the 2026 World Cup efforts. FIFA also has a US office in the Miami area. The New York Times reported last month that the New York office is largely unused ...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/06/trump-infantino-relationship-red-card-fifa-peace-price/90818385007/

Hey hey ho ho Infantino has to go

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1. Soccer-Balogun red card storm could be "fatal misstep" for Infantino

By Thomson Reuters
Jul 6, 2026 | 1:43 PM
By Iain Axon

July 6 (Reuters) – Human rights group FairSquare says U.S. President Donald Trump’s intervention over Folarin Balogun’s red-card ban should be investigated as a breach of FIFA’s rules on political neutrality and could mark the beginning of the end of Gianni Infantino’s presidency ...

Infantino, who has run the global governing body since 2016, said in a statement that the disciplinary body was independent and he had no involvement in the decision that freed Balogun to play in the match later on Monday.

FairSquare, a non-profit ‌organisation ​specialising in sports and human rights, believes FIFA’s increasing political alignment has ⁠been an issue going back to ⁠the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“I don’t think there’s any question they’ve become far too politically aligned,” Nicholas McGeehan, director and co-founder of FairSquare, told Reuters ...

https://whtc.com/2026/07/06/soccer-balogun-red-card-storm-could-be-fatal-misstep-for-fifas-infantino-says-rights-group/

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2. Trump bailed FIFA executives out on DOJ indictments in his first term.

President Donald Trump's administration and the Department of Justice have intervened in high-profile FIFA cases. In May 2026, the DOJ moved to dismiss bribery convictions and indictments against sports executives (including former Fox executive Hernan Lopez) tied to a long-running soccer television rights corruption scandal. Additionally, in July 2026, Trump directly contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino to successfully lift a one-match suspension for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun.Justice Department Drops FIFA Bribery Convictions


The Justice Department moved to dismiss convictions and indictments against individuals in the landmark FIFA bribery and racketeering case. The case, which previously shook the global soccer world by exposing massive corruption in broadcasting rights for major tournaments, has unraveled due to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on corruption and a shift in Department of Justice policy. Prosecutors cited the "interests of justice" in dismissing the charges against defendants who had previously been convicted by a jury in 2023