The only thing more interesting than a referee interfering in a sporting event is a politician. How to kill America’s goodwill at the World Cup: Wave “red card” under Donald Trump’s nose. Let him go to work, calling his best friend Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, to ask about the suspension of Team USA’s top scorer. Let the player’s suspension be expertly removed in time for the next big game. Give a weak procedural explanation for such a sudden change that the entire sports world is incensed by the smell of dirty insider work.
A team has to beat only 11 men to win a World Cup match, not 11 men and a referee, and certainly not 11 men, a referee, a FIFA official, and the president of the United States. But that’s the perception of Team USA’s home field advantage: that the host will do anything to win on this field, including pressure from the president and members of his administration to overthrow the administration.
The red card issued against Folarin Balogun for stepping on an opponent’s ankle in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week could have been a bad call. But FIFA’s rules couldn’t be clearer, in either case his rulebook and a different World Cup set competition instructions. A red card means an automatic suspension for the next game, with no appeal. Balogun should have been out for today’s round of 16 match against Belgium. Instead, FIFA announced yesterday, he is on trial and will play.
What did the president say when he invited Infantino, who has fed Trump like a pet, to rent an office in his New York Trump Tower building, and to give him a “peace prize”? Trump he said he only asked Infantino to “review” the red card “because I didn’t think it was a mistake” and it was a “terrible” decision by the manager. But we know how these types of calls from Trump have gone before. Something like this: “What I want to do is this. I just want to get 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”
For Belgian coach Rudi Garcia, an unexpected change it landed like an “April Fools'” joke. The Belgian federation claimed it was “surprised.” Even the American players were surprised if the news it was an AI lieoriginally. The last time FIFA allowed a red-carded competitor to appear in a subsequent World Cup game was in 1962, when Brazil pressured the hosts, Chile, to allow Garrincha to play in the final after beating an opponent in the semi-finals. Former England captain turned pundit Wayne Rooney written yesterday’s change “Absolutely embarrassing.” The European football federation, UEFA, issued a controversial statement this morning saying that the decision crosses a “red line.”
Everyone hates bad officiating—and some of the calls this World Cup have been outrageous. What hurts the referee’s whistle is the sudden invasion of the spectator. It interrupts the flow in the field and suggests that someone other than the knowledgeable participants can decide the outcome. “Stay away from it!” you want to scream. This is what makes Trump’s phone call worse than the employer’s. The remaining teams and their fans are left to believe that their competitive fate can be decided not by a bounced ball or an umpire’s call, but by a random head of state. These teams are prey not only to whistle, but to whim.
The World Cup will always include unfair calls and bad breaks. Balls bounce off the posts in crazy corners. References cannot follow every step. Soccer is a game of low goals, and bad justice. Big teams, like France or England, generally accept this, and understand that in order to win, they will have to overcome some difficulties, including mistakes and bad luck. That is what makes the World Cup title so desirable. But Trump’s call for Infantino creates a whole new level of stress—the kind most teams don’t have the strength to overcome. You can’t beat the president of the host country if he is in league with the organizers, and if Infantino doesn’t follow his own rules.
Last night, England lost one of their defenders, Jarell Quansah, to a red card during their 3-2 win over Mexico in a hard-fought game. Can someone appeal to Trump about that one? England coach Thomas Tuchel disagreed with the red card, but he was more than happy with the complete hash that Trump and Infantino have made of the rule books. “Who will overturn this decision then, and when and on what grounds?” Tuchel he asked reporters after the game, adding, “Where does this begin and where does it end?”
It will end with ongoing suspicions. FIFA, many of whose officials have earned a reputation over the years for doing business through offshore companies and cash boxesIt has never been a better smelling body. Thanks to Trump’s phone call, the race has been tainted by a certain stench. No matter who wins, FIFA will have trouble getting rid of the stink.
