World Cup: red card lifted after presidential call
US striker Folarin Balogun was issued with a red card but Fifa lifted the suspension to allow him to play in the round of 16 match against Belgium. Donald Trump said he had personally called Fifa boss Gianni Infantino to make this happen. Infantino confirmed that he had received the call but claimed that the decision had been made independently of Trump's request. The football press complains of foul play at the highest level.
Infantino won't be so easy to topple
The Fifa president has become an intolerable liability, the Aargauer Zeitung comments:
“The Fifa Peace Prize for Trump, the Somalian referee denied US entry, the discrimination against the Iranian team, the last-minute visa cancellations for fans from around the world and, of course, the horrendous ticket prices: Infantino has got away with all of it. ... Now a few officials are speaking out against the backroom dealings between Infantino and Trump. Next year at the Fifa congress, all the furious delegates will be able to vote out Infantino. But this is unlikely to happen because he promises more money and to open the tournament to more teams. But anyone who votes for Infantino again next year will become an accomplice in the greatest scandal in football history.”
Trump sides with immigrant for once
This scandal leaves Trump looking just as bad as Infantino, writes Jornal de Notícias:
“Now we know that Infantino's set of rules contains a previously unknown clause: players will be punished unless a powerful head of state rings up to request a pardon. And we see the irony of Trump's role, in which he begs for clemency for an immigrant, while on the streets his enforcement arm, ICE, are spreading inhumanity and taking advantage of many immigrants' love of football to step up arrests and deportations.”
Flipping the farce
The Belgium team has brought justice by crushing the US 4-1, De Standaard enthuses:
“As forceful as Fifa's pre-match dictate was, Belgium's topped it on the pitch. ... Belgium found itself unwittingly caught up in an unprecedented farce in which Fifa kowtowed to US President Donald Trump, thus incurring the wrath of football fans and officials across the world. This sent Belgium into a tense match in Seattle under exceptional circumstances and with the moral support of broad sections of the global population.”