Even by the dismally low standards of Gianni Infantino’s FIFA, the decision to suspend USA striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban is jaw-dropping.

Listen to this article

UEFA have rightly called it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and says the integrity of the beautiful game is at stake. What the decision shows us, once and for all, is how football’s governing body is now well and truly in the pocket of Donald Trump.

In case you haven’t been following every twist and turn of this remarkable episode, let me bring you up to speed. Balogun, one of America’s star players at the tournament so far, was sent off in their Round of 32 tie with Bosnia after his foot accidentally landed on an opposing player's ankle. It was a harsh red card, and many will feel he should never have been ineligible for tonight’s clash with Belgium as a result, but FIFA’s rules are clear: there is no official process for appealing and overturning a wrongful dismissal.

Except, it seems, if the President of the United States gets involved. It’s been widely........

© LBC