Donald Trump asks FIFA to review a player ban

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

0:30Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:41Hello and welcome to NewsHour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London. I'm Tim Franks. Donald Trump is, as you'll be aware, a man confident of his abilities across a great range of human endeavour. Today in the Oval Office, he announced that, as he put it, I understand sports really well, really well. All this was a prelude to his latest intervention that may have had football's top executives, the suits who sit right at the top of the world's favourite sport, at the very moment that they're hosting their glamour tournament, the World Cup, it may have had those top execs squirming.

1:19Because President Trump was publicly weighing in on a controversy which is certainly overshadowing the tournament right now. Ahead of the US's knockout game against Belgium, a game that kicks off in just under four hours, he'd phoned the boss of FIFA, Jani Infantino, and asked him to review a one-match ban for the US's top scorer, Falarin Balogun, who'd picked up the suspension after getting a red card in a previous game. And so it happened. That one-match ban was then suspended for one year. Balogun could play. Cue international outrage and foaming fury from the Belgians in particular, to which Mr Trump had this to say today.

2:03All 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, that was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different. And I think it's I think it's a terrible if they wouldn't allow, you know, a top player, maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the team to play. I think it would have had a big stain. And I related just that feel. I didn't tell him what to do. I can't tell him what to do.

2:39But and I don't believe he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision 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. You don't want to say, how would you feel if I took Messi out? Look, you know, he ran into somebody. Or we took Ronaldo. Ronaldo, you bunked into somebody. We're going to take you out of the game. He's great. Well, Harry Kane. Harry Kane, we're going to take you out of the game, Harry, because you happen to hit somebody a little bit harder than... You can't do that. Donald Trump in the White House a little earlier today.

3:15the Belgian Football Association appealed against FIFA's decision. That appeal was not even entertained because it was said football's governing body inadmissible, which is unlikely to have quelled the anger in Belgium. This was the team coach, Rudy Garcia.

3:32I didn't know that at the FIFA World Cup, the 5th of July is now April 1st, that is, April Fools. We're not defending the national team or the federation. We're defending football. It's integrity. It's ethics. But the outrage has gone far beyond Belgium. European football's governing body UEFA also slammed it as incomprehensible and unjustifiable. About an hour or so after Mr Trump's public pronouncements in the White House, the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, took to social media to offer a defence. It's been voiced by one of our producers. Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States.

4:15And on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I received calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA's independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.

4:55The words of Gianni Infantino. We, along with much of the rest of the world's media, have been trying to get an interview with somebody from FIFA about all this. No one has been available. So what about a former senior FIFA executive? Jim Boyce was vice president of FIFA between 2011 and 2015. He also had a senior role in the organisation's disciplinary committee. What's his view? Quite honestly, I think it's a joke. This, to me, is political interference. And I just find it astounding. I've seen the UEFA statement and I agree entirely what is being said by UEFA. It's just, to me, it's unbelievable.

5:34Well, UEFA, which is the governing body of European football, said that they felt that this set a very bad precedent, as you undoubtedly are saying as well. I guess the case from FIFA, and obviously they've yet really to come out and explain themselves, is that, look, we've got the possibility of suspending his suspension, as it were, for one year. That's under Article 27 of the FIFA code. And so, you know, what they've done is, in a sense, yes, it may have followed Donald Trump's intervention, but maybe they would have come to this conclusion anyway and that they felt that it was a very harsh red card.

6:21But who made this decision? Anything like that should be referred to the FIFA disciplinary committee. Now, if someone wants to appeal something, it is up to the association to make a complaint or to make an appeal to FIFA to look at something. Who made this decision? As I'm sure you know, Jim, FIFA's disciplinary court does not allow appeals on red cards, straight red cards during tournaments. So this is, in that sense, it would be unprecedented for them to entertain an appeal. But I suppose what they're saying is that the letter of the law does give them a little bit of leeway. I don't agree, because, yes, you're right to say that they have suspended this for one year.

7:05Now, the next World Cup is four years' time, which I understand is being played in Morocco and Portugal. There's going to be no World Cup matches played next year by the USA. They haven't abandoned the decision. They've suspended it for one year. But how is he going to serve a suspension in a year's time because there's going to be no World Cup matches played by the USA? People have a right to have a different opinion as to whether it should have been a red card or a yellow card. I'm accepting that. But what I'm saying is there was a decision made that this was a red card. A red card to me means an automatic suspension and I just don't know who arrived at this decision.

7:45So what do you think this means for the future of Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president? Well, let me put it this way. I knew Gianni Infantino very well when he was the chief executive or general secretary to Michel Patini. I always found him to be a very good fellow when he was at UEFA. Since he has gone to FIFA, there's been several decisions which obviously he has made, which quite honestly have astounded me, some of the decisions. But this one here is the biggest one. And the FIFA Congress, which is next year, my understanding is that three quarters of the members of FIFA have already stated that they are going to support Johnny for another four years.

8:26He wants another four years. And quite honestly, the only people who can make that decision are the members of FIFA. Do you think that he should be supported for the next four years? Well, I think we need to get complete clarification on who made this decision. At the moment, there's a lot of fears. He's got a bit of form, though, hasn't he? I mean, he awarded Donald Trump this peace prize. Well, you're quite right. There does seem to be a very strong relationship here between the two of them. And if, as I say, if Donald Trump made that phone call, at the end of the day, Donald Trump is the president of the USA.

9:02And to me, that's political interference. Have you been enjoying the World Cup, Jim? It's been some tremendous games, yes. Yes, I have been enjoying the World Cup. and there have been some tremendous games. And the only thing that I haven't been enjoying, and I'll be honest with you, is a lot of the decisions that are being made by the VAR. I honestly believe that this VAR needs to be seriously looked at. And just on that, I mean, I just wonder, you know, some people are saying, look, it's been a good World Cup up to this point, but this almost threatens to overshadow the World Cup. Would you go that far?

9:37It certainly hasn't helped. I would admire the manager of the USA team if he decided to leave this player out of this next match That's never going to happen, Jim I don't think it's going to happen either What has to happen here is we've got to establish who made this decision Was it the FIFA disciplinary committee or did Johnny Infantino make the decision on his own? If he did, I would find that astounding Jim Boyce, forgive me former FIFA vice president. Pablo Iglesias Moura is a football correspondent for the Guardian newspaper. He's in Seattle, where tonight's game between the US and Belgium due to take place.

10:21How have US supporters responded to all this back and forth? People are conflicted, right? I think there's many people who see President Trump's involvement in this and just sort of, you know, the way FIFA's handled generally is an overstep and a little bit unfair. You know, Belgium obviously feels pretty hard done by this. There's certainly fans who want Balogun back. You know, it's just a huge tactical advantage for the US to have him in the lineup. I don't think there's any sort of hard and fast feeling. I think, you know, when this news sort of first came out, you know, it felt just more unbelievable than anything.

10:58There's no precedent for it, you know? Yeah, indeed. I mean, and I suppose that, well, here's a question. Were the US to win tonight, as I'm sure, obviously, most Americans would dearly hope that they do. I just wonder if there'll be a bit of an asterisk against the victory, that it will be a sense of, well, you know, did we get that entirely on our own merits? Or do you think that actually just in the nature of football, people just accept it and move on to the next Yeah, I mean, certainly to me, I think that it taints a potential U.S. win. I think specifically President Trump's involvement closely aligns with maybe the perception that some people abroad have of America as a whole, you know, as sort of overstepping and feeling entitled to special treatment, that kind of stuff.

11:46To many of us, for sure, it taints a victory. It's really a shame because the U.S. obviously has played exceptionally well by their standards and has earned their spot in the round of 16. Indeed, and Belgium have shown themselves to be far from impregnable as well in this tournament. So it's perfectly conceivable that the US, well, they may win anyway, but they may well have won without Balogun had he served his one-match suspension. I guess the other part of this, and you watch football very closely, is that once again, it doesn't feel as if FIFA has done itself any favours. I've spoken to people in and around FIFA, and I think they are actually surprised at the sort of public backlash to this.

12:30And in my head, I can't imagine any way that they wouldn't have expected this, you know, how it would not be perceived as just sort of trying to engineer an advantage. I agree with you. It does very much seem like they can't get out of their own way sometimes. But nonetheless, I mean, just in terms of how the tournament is going so far in the US, I mean, clearly one of the three co-hosts, but maybe the major co-host. Would you say it's up to now it's been a decent tournament? Yeah, I mean, I think we've, look, we've had some exceptional matches, obviously. And I think in the buildup of this tournament, obviously, there's a lot of chatter about, you know, concerns about the US hosting, concerns about, you know, visa issues, the ticket prices, you know, the presence of immigration enforcement agency games, that sort of stuff.

13:11And, you know, a lot of that, you know, some of that has proven to be true. You just have to look at the Iran, the way the Iranian team was treated to sort of verify that. But on the other hand, I think it's gone pretty smoothly. And that was the Guardian's football correspondent in the US, Pablo Iglesias Mauer, who's speaking to me from Seattle, the head of the Belgium-USA game. It's due to kick off in just a few hours.

13:38Coming up on the programme, the discovery of what are thought to be the most ancient quasars in cosmic history. It's just a normal observation run. You know, in observation run, we have to stay up. So we were very tired and we saw it. We were kind of overwhelmed. They are among the brightest objects in the universe. They are so bright that even outshine the entire galaxy around it. More on that discovery in just a few minutes. Our main headline from the BBC Newsroom this hour, President Trump has confirmed he lobbied FIFA to overturn the suspension of the USA's top World Cup goalscorer, feeling concerns about political interference in football.

14:17And in another World Cup-related story, the French star Kylian Mbappe has condemned a Paraguayan senator who made racist remarks about him after France knocked Paraguay out of the tournament.

14:38This is NewsHour. From the BBC World Service, I'm Tim Franks. The coffin of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is on a tour of some of the major cities and holy places of his country as part of the seven-day funeral rites. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Khamenei's body has now arrived in the city of Qom. Previously, it lay in state at Tehran's Grand Mosala religious complex before being moved in a procession through the capital. Our chief international correspondent, Lista Said, has this report from Tehran.

15:25A massive funeral farewell like this takes massive preparations, including rest points like this. We're just on the outskirts of Tehran, and we've seen many like this where in this parking lot, buses keep pulling up, bringing people here from many cities and towns. And in front of us, a huge queue, one of men, the women in a separate queue, and people are going by us with sandwiches, with bottles of water. There are places to rest here, places to pray. Many of them tell us they're heading to Tehran or they want to be part of this moment. Just get a sense of the mood. Hello, are you going to the funeral?

16:06Yes, yes. And what does it mean to you? If you look at my eyes, the last two days I didn't sleep because my supreme leader, we are so sad, so sad about that. I don't even want to ask. You can't speak. It makes you emotional. Very emotional. He meant a lot to you. This man, for me, is an idol in life, real life. Thank you for your time. Thank you. I wanted to speak about this matter. Is it possible for you? Yes. And what is your name? Are you on your way to Tehran? No, no, no. Just passenger. Just passenger. Are you going to the funeral? No, no, no. Of course no. Why not? Is it not possible for me?

16:57Why? I'm busy. You're busy? Yeah. Busy. Are you worried about your future? Of course. Very, very much. What is your worry? The situation of the economy of the country is not stable at all. And many of the people don't have work. They have unemployed. We are so unhappy. What do you want to change in your life? I cannot say to you, answer to you, because this is not safe for me. You don't feel you can speak your mind? Of course. Crowds are a bit thinner in the blazing heat of the day. There are young men with water hoses spraying water in people's faces to cool them down. Others are handing out slices of fresh watermelon.

17:55I don't know if the faithful, the loyalists here, think of the fact that many Iranians aren't turning out for the funeral. Everybody has their idea. But by myself, I recommended them to participate in this foreign oil because they killed our leader by operation. They attacked us. Are you worried Mushta Bahamaneh has not been seen in public since those attacks?

18:39And what about you? Does it bother you that nobody knows where Mustafa Khamenei is? He is in my heart. He is in my heart. And I hope that he was safe from Netanyahu and Trump.

19:00And that report from just outside Tehran by our chief international correspondent at least is set. I have to say she was reporting on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian services. It is worth emphasizing that. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

19:22Scientists using a European space telescope say that they found the two oldest quasars, the intensely bright cores of early galaxies, ever recorded. They're estimated to perform 670 million years after the Big Bang, the moment the universe exploded into existence. Dahming Yang is lead author of the study and a PhD student at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Some galaxies have this blazing core and they're quasars. They're among the brightest objects in the universe. And at their centre, there's actually a giant black hole. These black holes are very massive. They're as heavy as billions of the sun.

20:01And the reasons why they are so bright is that their gravity pulls in the gas and dust from the galaxy, which spiral toward the black hole, like water going down a drain. And during this process, all the gas gets heated up and they shine. And they are so bright that even outshine the entire galaxy around it. I would say a quasar is really a massive black hole caught in the act of feeding. I mean, it seems amazing that just even in the very early stages of the universe, and you're looking at, what, about 600 million years or so after the Big Bang. So right at the start, that these huge events were happening then, that this sort of creation of supermassive black holes and all the creation and destruction that goes on with that.

20:59Right. So, yeah, I guess first 600 million year may sound very long for many people, but actually that's like less than five year old, assuming like current age of the universe is 100 years old. And that's actually a long lasting puzzle of the astrophysics. How does supermassive block go? How do they grow from and how do they grow so fast? And that's actually an unreserved problem in the field. And people are suggesting maybe they started very big. We don't know yet. But, you know, every step further back in time makes this puzzle on one side harder, but also providing more valuable clues to all these questions.

21:38So definitely we need to find more. It sounds like it's opening up more questions in a way. Can you tell me about just the mechanics of this? I mean, what this Euclid telescope, how it allows you to peer so far back into the origins of the universe? So Euclid is a space-based infrared survey telescope. It's a lot of terms, but it includes all the specialties about it. It surveys enormous areas of the sky. So right now we are having a telescope that combines the survey area and also the sensitivity in the infrared. And that's combining these two factors, we can actually see, we can actually find very rare sources in the very early universe.

22:21So the task of itself, it launched in 2023 and the survey began in 2024. So this effort has begun like before you could launch, but the search began from 2024 to like summer of 2025. Then there's a paper. So it's relatively recent. Presumably, I mean, it's then a huge amount of surveying of the data and trying to separate out the signal from the noise that you've been engaged in. Yes, there are so many contaminants in our own galaxy that look like distant quasars. It must have been an enormously exciting moment when at the point at which you realised that you and your colleagues, I presume colleagues were involved in this as well, you know, that you'd got two of the oldest quasars ever recorded.

23:11Yeah, we were definitely excited. It's just a normal observation run. And, you know, in observation run, we have to stay up. We were very tired. And when we saw it, we were kind of overwhelmed already. And there was Dhamming Yang, lead author of that study on ancient quasars from Leiden University in the Netherlands. You're listening to News Air.

23:53promise of a better, freer, richer life. But is it still attainable? I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. For more, listen to The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

24:10Welcome back to NewsHour. In central Nigeria, years of violent conflict in Plateau State have led one community to take security into its own hands. An all-woman vigilante group now patrols the streets of the city of Joss every night armed with little more than sticks. They gather intelligence, watch for suspicious activity and try to prevent attacks before they happen. The BBC's Ifyokabasi Atang joined them on one of their nightly patrols. It's well past 11 p.m. in this part of Joss. The streets are dark but in the distance the beam of a flashlight cuts through the blackness. These are the vigilante women, ten strong, determined and armed only with sticks and touch lights.

24:52Every night they move through the neighborhood between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. checking cars, stopping motorcycles, hoping to prevent crime. For the women here, the patrol is not just about keeping order, it's deeply personal. Many women in Plata State have lost husbands and children to the violence that has plagued the region for decades. If I'm going out, I'll tell my children, if I don't come back, if I come back, glory be to God. Lokia Lawrence is one of the members. She does not pretend the job is easy. With the story of attacks coming from other villages, I don't know what will happen outside.