BRUSSELS — A growing number of European Parliament members are rallying support for a formal investigation into FIFA president Gianni Infantino, targeting his role in allowing U.S. striker Folarin Balogun to take the field despite a red card suspension.
Balogun received the red card during the United States’ victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 1. Under normal circumstances, that card would have kept him out of the team’s following match. However, FIFA lifted the suspension ahead of Monday’s game after U.S. President Donald Trump personally contacted Infantino to advocate for the 25-year-old player.
European Parliament members Barry Andrews, Lara Wolters, and Niels Fuglsang issued a joint statement condemning the move, calling FIFA’s decision to “change the rule on red card suspensions mid-tournament a disgrace and a perversion of justice.”
“Once again, we’ve seen Infantino and FIFA surrender to the demands of the Trump administration,” the statement read.
The lawmakers are urging national football associations across EU member countries to push the FIFA Ethics Committee to examine whether pressure from the Trump administration influenced the lifting of Balogun’s suspension. They are also asking the committee to look into “other potential breaches of political neutrality,” including the decision to award Trump the FIFA Peace Prize.
FIFA, for its part, has maintained that the suspension was lifted by a disciplinary committee — not by Infantino directly.
According to the lawmakers, 35 of their parliamentary colleagues have signed onto the letter so far.
“The beauty of sport is that it is based on impartial and transparent rules. When Infantino allows political pressure to determine who gets to play, this sense of fairness goes out the window,” the statement concluded.
