President Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss the red card given to Team USA’s Folarin Balogun during Wednesday night’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, an person familiar with the conversation told The Hill. Trump later cheered the reversal, calling it an “injustice.”

FIFA said its independent panel overturned the red card suspension for Monday’s game.

      • hopesdead@startrek.website
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        13 天前

        That part doesn’t matter. If FIFA is getting a sitting leader of one of the host country governments to interfere with the outcome, it just signals how little the United States cares about the tournament or the sport. FIFA can totally come out and reverse the ruling and tell us why. The fact that they won’t and we are hearing that Trump is involved, will make the world have more distrust. We already denied visas to the referees, players and fans from many countries who wanted to come here for the tournament. This is blatantly cheating.

        If the United States team wants to save face, they need to have Balogun sit out the game tomorrow.

            • moustachio@lemmy.world
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              12 天前

              Then why do you care about this reversal? It’s irrelevant to the integrity of FIFA. FIFA has no integrity.

              • Zahille7@lemmy.world
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                12 天前

                Go back and reread the post where everyone is pointing out the fact that a sitting world leader called into FIFA to get a foul overturned.

                • moustachio@lemmy.world
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                  12 天前

                  Go back and read up what a shitty organization FIFA is and has been for decades and reexamine why you’re still so invested in, and giving them your money and attention.

                  It’s quite pathetic, actually.

                • moustachio@lemmy.world
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                  12 天前

                  Their suggestion to how “the team should handle it” is them just whining about something being unfair. The card itself was a joke so the team absolutely should play Balogun.

                  If you don’t like that, stop supporting FIFA and get some actual integrity about issues instead of just being mad about the clown show you’re supporting behaving like a clown show.

            • moustachio@lemmy.world
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              12 天前

              The tournament itself was a clown show to begin with. Europeans absolutely delusional about the integrity of FIFA.

              The card itself was absurd, and the dictator’s “manipulation” was quite small. If Belgium loses its because they’ve been playing like shit the entire contest, not because US striker’s red card that shouldn’t have been given in the first place—was overturned.

              You shouldn’t be watching the tournament all if you genuinely had any principles about the integrity of FIFA / the World Cup. But you do because you’re completely fine with looking away from all their shittiness because you’re too attached to a sport.

              • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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                12 天前

                Exactly what you said. FIFA removed Ronaldo’s 2 game suspension for no stated reason before the tournament, so this is not just Trump fixing it for the US. This is FIFA having no integrity from the beginning.

                The red was very harsh. The VAR protocol was broken in giving the red. Belgium has been playing like shit.

                And as incredibly sad as it has made me to miss the first World Cup in my country since I’ve been an adult, I’m boycotting it because I am not OK with looking away from their shittiness.

        • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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          13 天前

          No, it does matter. Two things can be wrong. But it is right that the player is not punished for a baseless call or for your other unrelated grievances that have nothing to do with what happened on the field.

          • shweddy@lemmy.world
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            12 天前

            An outside influence that has NOTHING to do with the game calling the head of the federation is bullshit. You can’t call him to get the call over turned why the fuck does the person who won the fifa peace prize get to do it. Let the coach or the player or the team manager get the call reversed.

            • ZeroCool@piefed.ca
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              12 天前

              Exactly. Trump corrupted the process by interfering. The fact that the decision should’ve been reversed became irrelevant the moment Trump decided to call in a favor from his buddy Infantino. It’s no longer about a bad call on the field.

          • k0e3@lemmy.ca
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            12 天前

            Shit calls get made all the time and people just live with it. The president of a shithole country should not interfere.

        • cowfodder@lemmy.zip
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          13 天前

          Ok. Now show it in video instead. It was an accident. The still frame looks bad, and it probably should have been called a yellow, but it didn’t meet the criteria for a red card.

          If you think it still should be a red after all that, please explain why Messi doing the same thing on purpose wasn’t.

        • moustachio@lemmy.world
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          12 天前

          Now show the Messi boot in someone’s calf during this tournament, and the half dozen other worse infringements that didn’t even result in a yellow card

          • ApeNo1@lemmy.world
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            12 天前

            Read my earlier response in this thread that already agrees that Messi should have also been shown a red card for his challenge. It was more intentional than this one.

            • moustachio@lemmy.world
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              12 天前

              Ok, but Messi didn’t get a red card. So we just get some players with different rules than others? Seems like refs are just making it up as they go, not a good look for the sport.

              • ApeNo1@lemmy.world
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                12 天前

                100%. I suspect there was “guidance” on protecting Messi given the marketing $$ and this intervention by Trump for the host country was unacceptable for an arguable valid red card.

            • osanna@lemmy.vg
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              11 天前

              i saw one player BARELY get touched, and he was on the ground writhing in pain. Like??

              Imagine one of these pansies playing rugby. They wouldn’t last a day.

      • Faithless@lemmy.world
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        12 天前

        Not what experts say and more importantly not relevant.

        This is know about corruption. The only honorable thing for the US to do now is forfait.

          • Faithless@lemmy.world
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            12 天前

            I guess that’s the American fan experts then - but again, that’s irrelevant , this is not a excuse for corruption. US should forfait

  • EastofEdson@lemmy.ca
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    13 天前

    Whether the red card was bullshit or not it irrelevant. Sports fans everywhere know that shit calls get made. The issue is that a sitting president called up his buddy who happens to be the president of FIFA and had it overturned. That is fucking insane.

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      12 天前

      I feel like it would have been overturned regardless, as it was an egregiously bad call, but I agree that Trump should have plenty of better things to fill up his schedule with than calling up the FIFA president to complain about a red card in a game of footie. It’s a bad look, because now it looks like Trump had a hand in influencing the decision and the fairness and integrity of the game is called into question.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        12 天前

        The thing is, FIFA put in rules that the Red could not be overturned. They removed the appeal process. What FIFA should have done was say there was a VAR protocol error (there actually was), which invalidates the procedure to give the Red. They didn’t take that easy out. Instead they make it completely obvious that this was corruption and not a mistake.

    • liuther9@lemmy.world
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      9 天前

      How is it an issue??? You act like as if he didn’t fuk and kill little girls. This is nowhere close to issue, most dictators do this kind of things in football

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      12 天前

      I have to say, this is so strangely captivating, I can’t stop looking at it honestly! Weirdly in sync between the two very different approaches! I have zero idea why this is so enthralling but I couldn’t just scroll away without explicitly voicing my confused enjoyment, so peculiar

  • khannie@lemmy.world
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    12 天前

    Unfortunately anything beyond this point is tainted. The only thing that can save this is the USA coach deliberately not fielding Balogun.

    • moustachio@lemmy.world
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      12 天前

      The card was absurd in the first place, they absolutely should field Balogun.

      FIFA is a comically corrupt organization; of course it’s going to do shit like this, if you don’t like it stop watching world cups and supporting FIFA. Otherwise you’re just whining the clown show didn’t perform the act you wanted it to.

        • moustachio@lemmy.world
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          12 天前

          Except for when Messi did worse… in fact wasn’t even a yellow card. Imagine defending FIFA’s clown show. Europeans really need to acknowledge: World Cup is an absolute joke, as long as FIFA runs it.

          Whining about what’s fair is pathetic when you support such a shitty, corrupt organization.

        • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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          12 天前

          we either have rules or we don’t. Otherwise, we will be second guessing ref calls with social media polling of fanboys.

          • moustachio@lemmy.world
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            12 天前

            FIFA doesn’t have rules. This isn’t even the first time it happened; Ronaldo this tournament and the 1962 world cups . Messi didn’t get carded for something worse, and Balogun did. The refs make it up as they go.

            Europeans need to stop supporting FIFA… but they won’t because they’re completely fine with turning a blind eye for its corruption.

        • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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          12 天前

          Except a red needs to either have intent behind it or have very reckless play behind it. This was just one player being in the air while another player moves his leg into the space where the first player would be landing. That isn’t reckless. You can call it careless for leaving the ground and not having a clear space to land, but reckless needs to have more behind it.

      • Soupbreaker@lemmy.world
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        12 天前

        The number of downvotes you have is depressing. FIFA has been insanely corrupt since its inception, a fact that’s been well-documented. Anyone that chooses to grandstand over this, while continuing to watch the games, is ignorant at best.

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    13 天前

    A lot of people saying he shouldn’t even have gotten a red card because he didn’t do it on purpose; it was a reckless tackle and the injury was potentially career ending. If a drunk driver kills a kid you don’t let them of with a slap on the wrist because it was an oopsie.

    • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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      13 天前

      if a drunk driver kills a kid

      Bit of a false equivalency. Two players trying to play the ball and walking into each other is objectively not a foul. Extremely disingenuous to call it a “tackle”. Making the choice to get behind the wheel while drunk is not the same thing at all

    • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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      12 天前

      Sure let’s talk about it like the law. If a drunk driver kills a kid they are going to get punished and imprisoned for that. If a sober driver intentionally runs a kid over and kills them that person is going to get a much harsher sentence.

      Now you understand the difference between a yellow and red card

      • twinnie@feddit.uk
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        12 天前

        I’m sorry, I seem to have confused you with my simple analogy, let me make it a bit easier. Imagine a professional racing car driver (professional means someone who’s so good they get paid to do it) is in a race and they really want to win. They see a chance to get ahead but it means driving through a playground full of kids, but they do it and they hit one. Now that driver didn’t hit the kid on purpose but they should have known that was likely to happen when they drove through the playground. Do you understand now?

        When evaluating a reckless tackle they take a few things into account like speed (there was some of this), force (there was plenty of this), and control (there was none of this). These are literally the best players in the world, they’re expected to make decisions as to what is safe and what isn’t. Making sure you don’t seriously injure other players isn’t just good sportsmanship, it’s required. If they show they can’t do that they shouldn’t be playing, hence the red card and ban.

        This exact thing just happened to an England player and his tackle wasn’t as bad and he got the ball (the latter usually being the difference between a fair tackle and a foul). Even the English commentators were saying he deserved the red. We’ll see what happens to him.

        • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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          12 天前

          No you didn’t confuse me you were just wrong. Thank you for clarifying

          I swear we’re a few decades away from players just watching the ball saying “no after you I insist”

    • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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      12 天前

      You are confusing reckless with careless. A red is either because of violent/intentional play or because of reckless play. Reckless is throwing your whole body at the play knowing there is a chance you seriously hurt someone. Careless is moving naturally without knowledge that your movement might hurt someone. In this play, Balogun is moving to the side through the air and needs to put his foot down somewhere. The other player is also moving through the air to the side but slightly from behind. His foot kicks Balogun’s foot, changing its trajectory, then his foot moves to the new location where Balogun’s foot is going to land.

    • WhoIsTheDrizzle@lemmy.world
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      12 天前

      What do you mean? In the US, if you try to overthrow the government and injured/kill police officers you get a pardon. If you swindle working class Americans out of billions of dollars and save a million of that for a bribe, you get a pardon. This is how things work.

  • rozodru@piefed.world
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    13 天前

    i.e. someone within trumps inner circle or trump himself had a bet placed on mondays game and called in a favour.

  • Kondeeka@lemmy.world
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    12 天前

    Reminder of the sponsors of this tournament: Edit: Budweiser and Hisense are also sponsors

  • JenitalJouster@lemmy.zip
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    11 天前

    the red card was def harsh don’t get me wrong. balogun clearly didn’t mean to do that, but it’s understandable to preserve a level of safety in the game. you have FIFA saying at first that the FA will not rescind the red card given to balogun, then suddenly the president himself calls infantino and now the red card is suspended? come on. had this happened to belgium there would be uproar from so many americans. it is 1)insanely corrupt and 2) sets a very bad precedent cause now any country can just ask to get their bookings for players reversed. this is getting long but anyways please pirate all your world cup games!!

    Edit: LOOOOOLLL GET FUCKED AMERIKKKA daddy trump literally cheated for them and they still lost what a bunch of clowns

      • 123@programming.dev
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        11 天前

        I learned that IPTV in some countries is very popular for live feeds when my shitty over the air antenna was having issues and I didn’t want to bother subscribing to some crappy app trial for a game or two. Now I know that PBS even broadcasts some of their channels as IPTV over the internet and the TV signal just points it at the stream’s URL. Also, ATSC 3.0 is a fiasco for over the air TV, I think that will be the end of broadcast TV. It was fun while it lasted for live events.

  • Switorik@sh.itjust.works
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    13 天前

    The best thing that could happen is the team refuses to play. By continuing to play, you are part of the problem.

    • myrmidex@belgae.social
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      12 天前

      Yup, that’s what Belgium should do now, before the game. Pack up their shit and fly back home, not even play the game.

      What are they going to do if Trump comes on to take an 89th-minute penalty? (ok yes yes Courtois, still)

    • Zizzy@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      12 天前

      You have to understand its not about intervening for a black dude. To them and other rich racist assholes, they see the players as animals there to serve them. In this case serving as entertainment. They would be just as upset if their cock fighting chicken got penalized.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        12 天前

        Exactly. This is just like a billionaire CEO intervening to help an employee win a court case if that employee is important enough to the success of the company. That same CEO would happily throw that person under the bus if the profits would go up by doing so.

        Trump would happily have this young man skinned alive if it would mean “his team” wins the next game.

      • stickly@lemmy.world
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        12 天前

        Tf you on about? He’s never played in a US market, unless Arsenal or Monaco moved continents at some point…

        • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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          12 天前

          I mean, Arsenal is owned by an American. But to your point, Balogun grew up in London and only happened to be born in the US due to airlines not allowing his mom to fly back to their home in London that late into her pregnancy. He has never lived in nor played in the US outside of international games.

  • stickly@lemmy.world
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    12 天前

    Really funny seeing people sob over the integrity of the sport as if FIFA isn’t actively buying votes to line their pockets and hosting tournaments to sports-wash theocratic slave states (USA included).

    The card system never made sense for international knockout play anyway because one ref with a grudge can, more or less, unilaterally eject a team from the tournament. Almost nobody has the depth to deal with a red card.

    • osanna@lemmy.vg
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      11 天前

      how the fuck did this piece of shit become a billionaire when everything turns to fucking shit? Boggles the mind.

      • veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world
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        11 天前

        Because half of Trump voters still think his family did not gain wealth from his presidencies.

        When your voting base is this ignorant, corruption and deregulation festers, feeding into the ignorance/corruption cycle ad nauseum.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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        11 天前

        Well to be honest, because we made laws to make it so. If he had been born a plank of wood, and never spoke, walked, or did anything. He would be a billionaire today. We made bankruptcy laws to make sure the rich couldn’t become poor by accident. Set bankruptcy at 10% of ones net worth, and every billionaire would fight it. Say you can sell a company was worth 1.4 billion, you can declare bankruptcy and it will cost pennies comparatively. The people who lose their houses are struggling, the companies don’t lose anything but a oops.

      • Kondeeka@lemmy.world
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        11 天前

        I wouldn’t be surprised for a second if he announced %100 tariffs for Belgian beer and chocolate now.

  • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
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    12 天前

    So annoying. Government should not give a fuck about games.

    Worse, the people who should care, the sports fans, just keep throwing their money at fifa.

    We are all fucked. Corporate sports and government grift, and people cant stop watching and/or don’t care.

  • blackbeans@lemmy.zip
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    12 天前

    I will exitedly open up a nice Belgian beer if they can make Trump angry this Tuesday.

    • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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      12 天前

      I will excitedly open up a nice Belgian beer, regardless of the results of the match. It’s just a solid decision.

      Might I suggest an ABT 12 or Pavel Kwak?

      • 123@programming.dev
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        11 天前

        Wise choice to have a beer ready. I had my “Victoria” (Victory) brand Caguama (32 fl oz) beer ready to go for the game against England. Had to get some masking tape and a sharpie to turn it into a “Derrota” (Loss), but it was still delicious. The salty tears elevated the flavor I think.