I am far from a soccer expert. I watched more soccer games in the last couple of weeks than I have in my entire life combined. The red card that United States player Folarin Balogun received in the last World Cup match didn't look like the right call, and that seems to be the opinion of many people who actually know soccer. The call was made, and Balogun would have had to miss the next matchup against Belgium. The rules are pretty clear-cut in the World Cup: a red card means you miss the next match. Well, they used to be clear-cut until President Donald Trump interfered. Trump made a call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and all of a sudden FIFA decided to suspend the red card, making Balogun available to play against Belgium. As someone who is rooting for the United States, part of me is glad he is playing. But another part of me also knows that this will make a U.S. victory seem very tainted, especially to the rest of the world. Instead of people talking about a great American win, they will be talking about whether the rules were changed because of political influence. Jarell Quansah of England received a red card in their win over Mexico in their last match. Should the Prime Minister of the UK reach out to the FIFA president and try to get that changed? FIFA showed once again that they are the corrupt organization that much of the world already sees them as being. Belgium has every right to be upset. The rules were very clear-cut until they suddenly weren't anymore. Letting the president of a country interfere like this was a terrible look for FIFA, and it was also a terrible look for our country. If this same ruling had been made for a Belgium player, American fans would have been furious. If the rules can be changed for one team because of political pressure, then people are going to question whether the competition is really fair for everyone else. The odd part of this for Trump is that he came to the aid of an American whom he has fought against even being considered an American because of his opposition to birthright citizenship. He is using a player he doesn't even seem to respect as an American to build his own image and show everyone how much influence he has over FIFA. That sends a very strange message. Either the rules matter, or they don't. If they only matter until someone powerful gets involved, then the integrity of the tournament suffers. And one thing Trump and FIFA have in common is that their rules only matter in certain circumstances and when it is best for themselves at the moment.
