World Cup 2026

[Pappy13]

So then it would be like an NBA player being suspended for a game because he was called for too many flagrant fouls, but then they look at the tape of the last game and determine that one of the fouls was just a regular foul and not flagrant.   So they tell him he is not suspended.  It can happen.

That's a really good analogy and I would say spot on.

[Pappy13]

Oh and one more thing, England also received a red card in it's game against Mexico. It will be interesting to see if England then is wanting a suspension for a 1 game ban on that. I would say it's 50/50 on that. In my opinion that red card was deserved because the challenge came in late and he went to the ground to make the challenge which in my book meant it was a dangerous play, which is why he got the red card. We'll see what FIFA thinks. Could be more fuel to the fire though if they don't suspend the ban.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

That's a really good analogy and I would say spot on.

It only works as an analogy if it wasn't the team's GM who filed the appeal but rather a senator or governor. 

 

[Pappy13]

It only works as an analogy if it wasn't the team's GM who filed the appeal but rather a senator or governor. 

There was no appeal. FIFA has a disciplinary committee that looks at stuff at their discretion. They looked at it and ruled. At least that is what FIFA said. The fact that Trump called infantino is not relevant. Whether you believe that or not is up to your own discretion, but I think it's more than plausible given the buzz surrounding the initial red card that the discretionary committee would have ruled on this even without Trump lifting a finger. Let's not give Trump more credit than he deserves.

[Sunstroke]

^^^ When it comes to dishonesty and corruption, it really is impossible to give Trump too much credit...

[Spider-Dan]

There was no appeal. FIFA has a disciplinary committee that looks at stuff at their discretion. They looked at it and ruled. At least that is what FIFA said. The fact that Trump called infantino is not relevant.

This is true in exactly the same sense that FIFA "independently and objectively" decided to invent a "FIFA Peace Prize" and give it to Donald Trump, who has been lobbying furiously for a Nobel Peace Prize.

all totally above board, nothing suspicious whatsoever

[Pappy13]

^^^ When it comes to dishonesty and corruption, it really is impossible to give Trump too much credit...

Oh I'm sure that Trump WANTED to intervene in the process. The only question is whether or not he actually had any impact on the process whatsoever. This is what the disciplinary committee does. The 1 game ban falls directly under their watch. In fact they had to rule whether or not it would be a 1 game ban or more regardless of what Trump did and they ruled to suspend the 1 game ban which is within their rights to do. No one expected that but they can do it.

Look, I'm not stupid I'm sure there were people that were putting their 2 cents in with the disciplinary committee on what *should* be done in fact the Europeans were up in arms this was all rigged, but then where were they when the disciplinary committee ruled that Ronaldo would be allowed to play in the World Cup after he was given a 3 game ban in qualifying and only sat for 1 game because his 3 game ban was changed to a 1 game ban and suspended the other 2 games? Did Trump call for that as well? Does Trump even know who Ronaldo is? I doubt it.

[Pappy13]

This is true in exactly the same sense that FIFA "independently and objectively" decided to invent a "FIFA Peace Prize" and give it to Donald Trump, who has been lobbying furiously for a Nobel Peace Prize.

all totally above board, nothing suspicious whatsoever

Well unless you think it was the disciplinary committee that invented the FIFA Peace Prize, it's not really relevant.

[Spider-Dan]

Well unless you think it was the disciplinary committee that invented the FIFA Peace Prize, it's not really relevant.

Surely there is a rock-solid firewall between "the leadership that invented the FIFA Peace Prize" and "the disciplinary committee"!

If FIFA doesn't like being accused of corruption then maybe they shouldn't invent awards to give to despots?  It's not as difficult as it initially sounds.

[Pappy13]

Surely there is a rock-solid firewall between "the leadership that invented the FIFA Peace Prize" and "the disciplinary committee"!

I don't know, let's ask Copilot.

Question: Who's idea was it to give Trump the FIFA peace prize?

Copilot answer:

The short answer: It was Gianni Infantino’s idea.  
All available reporting shows that FIFA president Gianni Infantino personally created the FIFA Peace Prize and then chose Donald Trump as its inaugural recipient.

This wasn’t a committee decision, a vote, or a long‑standing FIFA tradition — the award literally did not exist until Infantino unveiled it and handed it to Trump.

FIFA “invented the award in the first place” and handed it to Trump, prompting calls for an ethics investigation into Infantino’s role in creating it.

The prize was announced only weeks before the ceremony, with no transparency about who selects the winner.

Infantino had been publicly supportive of Trump, even saying he believed Trump should have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Infantino personally presented the trophy, medal, and certificate to Trump at the World Cup draw.

Across all reporting, there is no evidence of a broader FIFA committee proposing the idea. The creation and awarding of the prize are consistently tied to Infantino himself.

I believe 2 things can be possible. FIFA made a huge mistake in giving Trump the FIFA peace prize and the disciplinary committee honestly looked at the Balogun red card and thought a 1 game ban during the World Cup was too harsh of a penalty. Heck, pretty much everyone in the futbol world was in agreement with that assessment prior to the decision, it was just assumed the disciplinary committee wouldn't actually change it.

[Spider-Dan]

No one is claiming that Trump called the disciplinary committee; he called Infantino, FIFA's president.
The idea that FIFA's president simply has no influence over the disciplinary committee is so ridiculous as to be insulting.  It's like saying that Trump bragging about calling Roger Goodell and telling him to change a rule mid-playoffs would have "nothing to do with" the Competition Committee miraculously changing that rule.  And "miraculous" is the correct framing here:

Heck, pretty much everyone in the futbol world was in agreement with that assessment prior to the decision, it was just assumed the disciplinary committee wouldn't actually change it.

They probably assumed that because since automatic suspensions for a red card were introduced in 1974, no automatic suspension after a red card had ever been overturned in the history of the World Cup.  Such suspensions aren't even allowed to be appealed!



What a glorious miracle/coincidence!

[Pappy13]

No one is claiming that Trump called the disciplinary committee; he called Infantino, FIFA's president.
The idea that FIFA's president simply has no influence over the disciplinary committee is so ridiculous as to be insulting.

What's insulting is your belief that the disciplinary committee couldn't have come to this conclusion on their own without FIFA's president and/or Trump stepping in. As I said I'm sure that Infantino and Trump would have WANTED to get involved if needed, but there was no need. The committee was going to rule on whether it would be a 1 game ban or more regardless of what Trump and Infantino did and no one thought Balogun would get more than 1.

Your graphic is nice but unfortunately it's not completely correct because Balogun wasn't even the first in this world cup to be granted a suspension to a red card for the World Cup. Ronaldo was given a 3 game ban in World Cup qualifying that would have resulted in him missing Portugal's first world cup game and it was changed to a 1 game ban and 2 games were suspended by the committee under the exact same reason as was supplied for Balogun's red card so that he could play in Portugal's last qualifying match and first world cup game of 2026. As I said before there was already precedent set in this world cup prior to Balogun's red card. So either Infantino made that decision for the committee without Trump's behest or the committee/Infantino made both decisions without the help of Trump. For all we know the committee may have felt they had already opened Pandora's box with Ronaldo and just decided they couldn't shut it again without appearing to be prejudiced toward Portugal and/or Ronaldo and Balogun just happened to be the first lucky recipient of that prize. There's more anecdotal evidence that was the case then what you are suggesting.

The red card wasn't appealed and it wasn't waived either. It was suspended by the disciplinary committee for 1 year which means that basically if Balogun commits another infraction in that time he will be more harshly penalized than 1 game ban, probably will get a 3 game ban as they already had reviewed the red card to determine if the ban would be the automatic 1 game ban or more. This was the 2nd time in this World Cup that a player played a world cup game on a suspended red card. Ronaldo was the first.

[Spider-Dan]

Red cards (are SUPPOSED to) carry a mandatory 1 match suspension; Ronaldo served that 1 match suspension.  Additional games are a judgement call, and the judgement was that the extra games would be suspended (delayed).  Balogun is the ONLY player in the history of the automatic suspension era to be issued a red card and not serve ANY suspension.

And once again: If FIFA doesn't like being accused of corruption, then maybe they shouldn't invent awards to give to despots.  If FIFA had instead decided to get on its knees and give a sloppy blowjob to the President of Portugal last year, that decision for Ronaldo would look like the decision for Balogun does right now.

[Pappy13]

Red cards (are SUPPOSED to) carry a mandatory 1 match suspension; Ronaldo served that 1 match suspension.  Additional games are a judgement call, and the judgement was that the extra games would be suspended (delayed).  Balogun is the ONLY player in the history of the automatic suspension era to be issued a red card and not serve ANY suspension.

Yet. If he gets another red card in the next year he could in fact serve more than a 1 game ban and probably would. Won't happen in the World Cup though which I'm certain was the intent of the disciplinary committee for both players.

[Spider-Dan]

Yet. If he gets another red card in the next year he could in fact serve more than a 1 game ban and probably would.

if

As I just said: Balogun is the ONLY player in the history of the automatic suspension era to be issued a red card and not serve ANY suspension.  Since that rule was created, every other player to EVER be issued a red card has immediately served a 1-game suspension.

The only exception in history is the top goal scorer for the team of the country whose leader FIFA invented a ridiculous sham award for.  If this is not textbook corruption, it is strongly simulating it.