FIFA President Gianni Infantino “broke the global soccer body’s own rules and fixed the scrapping” of USMNT F Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card during a phone call with President Donald Trump, according to sources cited by the N.Y. POST. The sources said that Infantino “agreed to quash the forward’s suspension,” breaching the global organization’s own disciplinary code, in talks with Trump on July 1. One source said, “He told President Trump that he would take care of it. One call and it was done.” Infantino previously claimed that he “had no involvement with the decision.” A FIFA spokesperson said, “Our position has not changed regardless of what unnamed sources claim.” The rep “did not address what Infantino told Trump on the call” (N.Y. POST, 10/14).
FIFA will “seek to make amendments to its disciplinary code to prevent a repeat” of the Balogun scandal that “engulfed the World Cup.” The FIFA Council on Thursday will meet for the first time since the World Cup. It will be “presented with an amendment to the regulations aimed at preventing similar scenarios from playing out once again.” A document setting out this proposal “seeks to prevent suspensions of automatic one-match bans in the future.” The proposal says it is necessary “to ensure stability and predictability regarding player eligibility and, therefore, protect the integrity of competitions.” While the proposal is likely to be welcomed, sources said that the wording of the amendment “was only shared with members on Tuesday night,” fewer than 48 hours before Thursday’s meeting in Zurich (THE ATHLETIC, 10/14).