Why FIFA is allowing U.S. Men's Soccer star to play after red card

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Support for Here and Now Anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software, to design and develop engineered systems, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at mathworks.com.

**Chris Bentley** (0:16)
WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

**Donald Trump** (0:21)
I understand sports really well, really well. And that wasn't a foul.

**Chris Bentley** (0:30)
A World Cup red card meets the trump card.
It's Monday, July 6th, and this is Here and Now Anytime from NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley. Today on the show, Iranians packed the streets of Tehran today to mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike in February. Also, historian Heather Cox Richardson says American democracy has survived for 250 years, but the Trump administration is testing its limits.

**Heather Cox Richardson** (1:16)
They're not simply breaking the law. They're acting as if the Constitution doesn't exist.

**Chris Bentley** (1:22)
Before we get to that story, though, Trump has not been shy in using his pardon powers to commute sentences he disagrees with. Now he's throwing his weight around with an organization where he has no official authority, his FIFA Peace Prize notwithstanding, and bragging about his role in reversing what he called a great injustice.

**Donald Trump** (1:43)
How do you penalize him for a game that hasn't been played yet? It's very unfair. He can't do that. So, yes, I ask for a review by FIFA.

**Chris Bentley** (1:52)
Trump is talking about the decision by FIFA to reverse a one-game suspension for American soccer star Folarin Balogun, who got a red card during Team USA's match against Bosnia Herzegovina last week. On Sunday, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced it would delay that one-game red card ban for a probationary period of one year, meaning Balogun can play in tonight's win-or-go-home match against Belgium. Belgium's head coach said FIFA's decision was an affront to the sport's, quote, integrity and ethics. European soccer's governing body called it incomprehensible.
Reporter Steve Futterman told Indira Lakshmanan, American fans in Seattle for tonight's game were stunned to learn the penalty had been effectively overturned yesterday.

**Steve Futterman** (2:42)
Well, I think everyone was in a bit of shock. You know, when the red card was issued last week, there were lots of complaints. The consensus among not just the US. Soccer fans and officials, but pretty much everyone was that the red card was a huge overreaction. But FIFA immediately also made clear there was no appeals process. Except we all know a lot about Article 27
That allows a disciplinary committee of FIFA to review pretty much anything it wants to.
This was the committee that also delayed a two-game suspension for Portugal's Ronaldo for a year. This allowed him to play in all the matches here. But as for the American fans yesterday, all they seemed to care about was that Balogun is set to play. This is Brian Penn. He is here from Chicago.

**Heather Cox Richardson** (3:26)
He did not deserve a red card, so it's fantastic. Changes the game.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:30)
Belgium should be scared.

**Steve Futterman** (3:32)
This will make a difference, you feel?

**SPEAKER_8** (3:34)
A hundred percent. Yeah, he's our goal scorer, Flo.

**Steve Futterman** (3:37)
And any questions about why FIFA did this?

**SPEAKER_3** (3:41)
No, no, don't care.

**SPEAKER_8** (3:42)
Just happy.

**Steve Futterman** (3:43)
I think that's pretty much sums it up. Most of the US fans, yeah, just let him play.

**Indira Lakshmanan** (3:48)
Well, OK, let's just summarize for people who made out, but I'm watching this very, very closely. Balogun initially did not get the red card. And after referees reviewed the video and looked at it frame by frame, they then gave him this red card. People said it was maybe too extreme because he wasn't intentionally trying to hurt the other player. They made contact while they were both going for the ball. But fans, you know, were not the only people who were mad about the red card last Wednesday. President Trump spoke about it this morning. Let's listen.

**Donald Trump** (4:20)
I understand sports really well, really well.
And that wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.

**Indira Lakshmanan** (4:32)
All right. So he's summing up what a lot of American fans thought. But Trump confirmed that he called the president of FIFA and asked him to review the red card and the one game suspension that was given to Balogun.
You know, this is a big deal because under FIFA's rules, you can't actually appeal a red card. And yet this whole process happened. Is there precedent for this at previous World Cups? You mentioned Ronaldo, and that's important because he got to play in the first two games of Portugal, and he's a star for them. So is it just the same as that?