FIFA's red card reversal: Fair play or political interference?

0:00It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, a suspended red card and what it might say about political interference in soccer. During a World Cup match on Wednesday, U.S. striker Florian Balogin and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Tarek Muharremovic were fighting for the ball when Balogin stepped on the Bosnian defender's ankle and was given a red card. That meant Balogin, the U.S. team's leading scorer, would not be able to play in the next knockout match. Typically, a red card cannot be challenged by the team, according to rules set up by FIFA, the international governing body for soccer.

0:36Then President Trump called FIFA's president, Johnny Infantino. Here's Trump on Monday recounting the call. But all I did, all I did, I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled. That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different. After the review that Trump requested, a stunning move. FIFA suspended the red card. Instead of sitting out Monday's match against Belgium, Balogun would be placed on probation for one year.

1:12That meant a key player would be on the pitch for the biggest game in U.S. soccer history. Here's Trump again. And they made the right decision because, number one, it wasn't a foul. And you want to see a game with your best players. But not everybody sees it that way. The European Soccer Federation, UEFA, says that FIFA crossed a red line by suspending the red card. Consider this. The reversal has been the talk of the soccer world and has resurfaced discussions about FIFA and corruption. Is this uncharted territory?

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3:23day's game, delaying a one-match ban Balogun received following the red card for dangerous play that he picked up in the previous game against Bosnia. The reversal by soccer's global governing body has been widely criticized ahead of today's match. Franklin Foer is a staff writer for The Atlantic and someone who has written and spoken a lot about the mix of politics and soccer. He is also the author of How Soccer Explains the World and joins us now. Welcome. Hi. What, if anything, of all of this surprised you?

3:53NPR Staff:The overtness of it all. I mean, I know that Donald Trump likes to boast about how he's able to shift outcomes in order to claim credit for something that I think he believes will make him enormously popular here at home. He's just trumpeted the fact that he has kind of used his relationship with FIFA and Gianni Infantino in order to get this decision that he wants. And so there's nothing that's happening underneath the table, behind closed doors. This is all happening out in the wide open. How does this compare? Before we talk a little bit more about the moment, just putting in this context, how does this compare to what I think would widely reviewed as run-of-the-mill corruption that often comes along with FIFA decision-making over the years?

4:35NPR Staff:All right. So we have to say that this is perfectly consistent with FIFA's and soccer's long history of political leaders trying to shape the outcomes of World Cup soccer matches. We went back to 1934. There are stories about Benito Mussolini having dinner with the referee who was refereeing Italy on the eve of that World Cup final. And there are instances of military dictatorships in Brazil and Argentina bringing political pressure to bear on World Cup refereeing decisions and the like. And so this isn't novel. It hasn't happened for many, many decades, which is why it feels like it's kind of this shock to the system.

5:15NPR Staff:and it's coming out of the blue. And the fact that it's happened before doesn't mean that it's acceptable this time. You had written about the fact that Donald Trump, that President Trump had really attached himself to FIFA, had attached himself to this World Cup, tried to make it a personal branding thing. And yet over the last few weeks, he had receded from the scene. There was such a focus on the amazing play so far. Now to you, is this World Cup all about what Trump did, at least in this moment? Yeah, I mean, one of the things that's so amazing about a World Cup if we just flashback before this whole fiasco occurred was the way in which the game is so profoundly equalizing that on this weekend we watched Cape Verde, a country with half a million people, go toe-to-toe with Argentina, which has won, which has Lionel Messi, the greatest player perhaps of all time, and has won all these World Cups.

6:04NPR Staff:And they were able to face each other on the soccer pitch, and there was nothing that separated the two teams, their population size, their political power didn't matter. But then to have a country's political power affecting the outcome in this tangible way, even if the decision was in isolation, just it's, there's something called the rule of law. And we know about this in our own court system. And it happens in sports as well, that there is a set of procedures that, that, that the red card was called on the field by the referee. It was reviewed by the video assistant referee. And that's a final decision.

6:43NPR Staff:And we, whether we like the outcomes of elections or court decisions, part about being a citizen of a system is that we have to accept the results. And the FIFA system didn't allow for any possibility for appeal. And then Trump's, because he has this long relationship with FIFA and Infantino, he's able to wield his power in order to get the outcome that he desires that's not available to any other nation in the world. Yeah. On the other hand, Trump is not alone. On the other hand, I guess there's several on the other hands here, but let's take one of them. Trump is not alone in saying this was a pretty dubious call to begin with.

7:22Does that factor into how you're thinking about this at all?

7:25NPR Staff:When I first saw the notification on my phone that this was being overturned, And my first reaction was justice has been served because I was fuming after Balogun got that red card. It felt to me like a pretty dubious red card, maybe even a dubious yellow card. And I was jumping with joy. And then I started to think through the implications of everything that had happened and the way in which this is going to blow back on the U.S. national team. So if they win tonight with Alligan on the pitch, it's going to taint that victory in the eyes of the world. And so that makes the more I thought about it, it didn't take me too long.

8:07NPR Staff:But the more I thought about it, the more deeply uncomfortable I felt, but also just sad, sad that this thing that's been such a marvelous experience is this great festival of unity with the Scots coming in and drinking Boston Dry. with the way in which all these fans have come to this country and rediscovered their affection and love for America, even for ranch dressing. And then to have that all kind of come crashing down because of this one moment, it really undermined something that felt pure and good. All right. So Franklin Forrest, let me ask you this. You have thought a lot about all of the conflicting storylines we're talking about right now.

8:47You are also cheering for the U.S. men's national team as a fan. what to you is the best case scenario for tonight's match given all of this?

8:56NPR Staff:There is no best case scenario anymore because I still want these guys to win. I really like this team and the way that they've played over the course of this tournament has just been so dazzling. They've played with swagger. They've been entertaining. It's been a really joyous thing to watch this team and the way that they've connected to fans and the way that they've connected the non-soccer following universe to the soccer following universe. And so I don't want them to fail. I still want them to succeed. I would love it if some of the players could maybe speak out and say something that distances themselves from this advantage that they've had.

9:42NPR Staff:But I fear what's going to happen is that this is just going to open up. You know, this is occurring in a political context where Europe and the United States are drifting away from one another on so many other fronts. And it seems like Europe is kind of seized on this as an example of the way, you know, correctly so, is the way the United States under Trump has thrown around its power. And so it's just, again, so devastating to see something that could have bridged a divide become another flashpoint that's going to separate us. Franklin Foyer, staff writer for The Atlantic, also the author of How Soccer Explains the World.

10:21Thank you so much.

10:23NPR Staff:Thank you. This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Meebane and Tiffany Vera Castro. Our director is Kai McNamee. It was edited by William Troop and Timbead Eramius. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.

10:43It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. Hi, it's Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air. Hey, take a break from the 24-hour news cycle with us and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians, and musicians, the people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times. So listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHYY.