FIFA reaches a new low, with Trump again a gloating winner

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

If it were not extraordinary enough that Gianni Infantino has paid more visits to the Oval Office than Keir Starmer, along comes a World Cup decision so heavy with political overtones that it takes the breath away.

Folarin Balogun, the former Arsenal striker whose three goals for the United States at this tournament have propelled the host nation into the last 16, was supposed to be ineligible for Monday night’s titanic clash with Belgium in Seattle.

But then the ban for the contentious red card he received during the victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with exquisitely convenient timing, was suspended, enabling Donald Trump, the US president, to mark a weekend of boisterous Fourth of July festivities with a final, unexpected celebration. The White House’s official reaction? “USA-USA-USA.”

Very subtle. Except nothing about this jaw-dropping move had much nuance, with Infantino’s FIFA offering a novel interpretation of its own rules to delight Trump, disgust Belgium and spare the Americans’ most influential player.

While Trump had........

© Brisbane Times