FIFA’s trump card seeing red

As a preface to the staging of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, this column made a critical exposition, making reference to it as the Soap Opera edition.

Then, the conclusion came about following several geo-political moves that provided many take-aways from the much anticipated extravaganza that is staged once every four years.

One month into the global Football show piece, the intrigue and football skills and tactical battles among the 48 teams that started the finals, have been obscured by the off the field issues.

Yes, things evolve, and change is inevitable, however, the magnitude of the happenings has made the 2026 FIFA finals, a sequel.

At the heart of the reels is the chummy relationship that exists between the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump and president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino.

The courtship landed Trump a ‘Peace Prize’ months before the staging of the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, as Infantino invented the accolade.

Whilst there was a raucous uproar in some places, the event slid into the background, as greater focus was placed on the June 11 to July 19 tournament.

However, as time wore on, more unfolded and got unpacked.

Likened to seismic activity, the overturn of the red card given to USA’s talisman Folarin Balogun, during the round of 32, thus sparked shock waves and controversies.

In its defence, FIFA cited the employment of Article 27 that permits its Disciplinary Committee to offer discretion to suspend Balogun’s ban to 12 months.

It must be recalled that Cristiano Ronaldo after being issued a red card in Portugal’s penultimate match for elbowing an Irish player deliberately, had his three match suspension deferred as that would have cost him and his team two matches in the group stage of the World Cup.

Given that provision, whilst rescinding of cards is possible, reports that Trump personally contacted Infantino regarding the suspension, ironically broke one of the principles of FIFA, relative to political interference.

In response, FIFA continues to sing the chorus that its judicial bodies operate independently.

The incident has opened a can of worms even as Infantino released a statement explaining his conversation with Trump, underlining that it did not influence the “independent” FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

That public relations effort and damage control by Infantino have incensed many stakeholders.

The extent of these outbreaks of discord has far reaching consequences, as the sport has been thrown under the bus, and FIFA’s integrity has been hurt, owing to Infantino’s alleged unilateral decisions.

Since, pressure is mounting on match officials and the operations of the sport’s world governing body.

What next is still unpredictable as countries are being hurt by the actions of the FIFA hierarchy.

Some are already calling for Infantino to go, therefore one expects the saga to continue after July 19.

Let’s not forget that there is also a financial windfall that often occurs after every World Cup cycle.

Therefore, all the current huffing and puffing can be silenced by FIFA operatives who can skilfully gag the under-privileged member associations with trinkets.
On the other side of the fence, Trump’s waning popularity can take another plummeting.

Unfortunately, that is just one of the unplanned occurrences of the enthralling spectacle of Football.