For FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the decision to reverse USMNT F Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension is “a stain on this World Cup which will not wash out easily,” according to Adam Crafton of THE ATHLETIC. FIFA’s decision to reinstate Balogun “threatened to mess with the field of play, the one area that all executives, participants and fans generally believe ought to remain sacrosanct.” Following issues leading up to the World Cup, FIFA began to “construct a story of success” during the tournament’s opening weeks. But when FIFA announced on Sunday that Balogun would have his one-game ban suspended, and it emerged that President Trump and his allies had “made representations on Balogun’s behalf, all those latent strains of hostility returned.” It was a “ferocious burst of America First,” as it appeared to the world that Trump had “sought to gain an advantage for the U.S. that has not been traditionally afforded to other nations.” It appeared that FIFA had been “naive in hoping this affair could pass by without it turning into a Trump victory lap.” Had the USMNT beat Belgium on Monday, and Balogun had a “decisive influence, one can only imagine how the matter may have exploded in the coming days.” The USMNT’s loss was “probably the political outcome” Infantino required (THE ATHLETIC, 7/7).
POSTER CHILD: THE ATHLETIC’s Henry Bushnell wrote Balogun was the “smiling American face of the World Cup.” He was the “breakout star” and the “protagonist of an entirely positive tale that was altering the course of American soccer -- until FIFA, U.S. Soccer and the Trump administration intervened.” On Sunday, Balogun became the “unwitting face of the World Cup’s biggest controversy.” And his team, a “likable bunch that had wowed the world with dynamic football, became a polarizing one.” FIFA’s “unprecedented decision” to essentially rescind Balogun’s suspension -- following a call from Trump and “extensive work” by lawyers and U.S. Soccer officials -- has “irreversibly changed the story of the American World Cup.” Bushnell: “Before Sunday, it was a story about dreams and belief, about a sport on the rise, about unity and connection. Now, it is a story about alleged favoritism and American arrogance.” The entire saga has put the USMNT “at the center of an international storm, rather than simply at the center of American hearts.” And it has “put a public stain on the USMNT’s World Cup run” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/6).
SHIFTING THE ENERGY: In London, Oliver Brown writes the World Cup “captivated the host nation from sea to shining sea,” but then “everything changed.” Brown: “Where once the home team’s exit might have been a truly gut-wrenching moment, their 4-1 defeat by Belgium instead doubled as cosmic retribution.” Until Trump “angled for a favour from Infantino, this World Cup had begun to cleanse the US’s image abroad” (London TELEGRAPH, 7/7). The GLOBE & MAIL’s Cathal Kelly writes America was “getting it all right at the World Cup.” Kelly: “And then, as it so often does, America America’d itself.” Most World Cups are “remembered for one thing, often something silly.” This one “will be remembered for Trump gleefully admitting the crime.” Kelly: “But rigging the World Cup? People will never forget you did that, and how badly you screwed it up” (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/7).
LEAVING A BAD TASTE: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Steven Zeitchik noted Trump asking for “a review” from Infantino of Balogun’s red card “has, not surprisingly, caused everyone you’d expect to get upset in fact to get upset and everyone you’d think would defend the move in fact to defend the move.” Zeitchik: “It all turns what had been a non-partisan story of the USMNT’s success … a partisan story, through no fault of the team” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/6).
THE DUST HAS SETTLED: THE RINGER’s Brian Phillips notes the “good news” is that “there’s a lot of soccer left to play in this World Cup, and the mood of the tournament can absolutely recover now that Trump’s big moment is past” (THE RINGER, 7/7). A WALL STREET JOURNAL editorial pointed out that the World Cup has “shown the world’s visiting soccer fans the friendly, down-to-earth side of Americans they don’t hear about from the global press.” It has been an “encouraging demonstration of U.S. ‘soft power.’” Trump’s intervention “made the story all about him” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/6).
