FIFA set to bar suspension of automatic red card bans after Balogun controversy

FIFA is set to propose an amendment to its disciplinary code that would stop automatic one-match bans for red cards from being suspended in the future, the Press Association reported, a move that follows the controversy over U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card at the World Cup.

The amendment is expected at Thursday’s FIFA Council meeting in Zurich. Late Tuesday night, FIFA’s leadership circulated a draft code change that would forbid FIFA legal panels from suspending the automatic one-game bans, the New York Post reported, citing leaked documents. In an accompanying memo, FIFA officials said the change was needed “to ensure stability and protect the integrity of competitions.”

The move comes after the New York Post reported that FIFA president Gianni Infantino agreed during a July 1 phone call with President Donald Trump to quash Balogun’s suspension, citing four sources briefed on the matter. Balogun was sent off during the United States’ match against Bosnia and Herzegovina and would have been ineligible for the round-of-16 match against Belgium without the intervention. The ban was instead suspended, and Balogun played in the 4-1 defeat.

Infantino has denied involvement. A FIFA spokesman told the Post that the organization’s “position has not changed regardless of what unnamed sources claim,” and did not address what Infantino told Trump on the call. Trump has said publicly that he called Infantino to ask that the ban be reviewed.

A rule change critics call a cover-up

Critics inside European soccer federations told the Post the late-night filing amounts to an admission of guilt, and a retroactive attempt to legitimize how the Balogun case was handled. An internal briefing document circulated ahead of Thursday’s meeting reads: “There was never a doubt nor lack of clarity on how the automatic suspension following a red card is to be served. This is a way for FIFA to cure the handling of the Balogun case during the World Cup.”

FIFA circulars from 2002, 2003 and 2005 state that mandatory one-game bans can only be waived if a referee cards the wrong player by mistake, the Post reported. A 2002 memo from U.S. Soccer warned American leagues that associations cannot create exceptional rules to avoid mandatory red card bans.

Infantino under pressure on several fronts

Norwegian soccer federation president Lise Klaveness filed an ethics complaint against Infantino last week, accusing him of breaching FIFA’s political neutrality rules and citing both the Balogun reprieve and Infantino’s creation of a FIFA peace prize for Trump. England Football Association chair and FIFA vice president Debbie Hewitt wrote to Infantino last month asking for the release of documents related to the Balogun case, and Hewitt and other council members are expected to press Infantino for answers at Thursday’s meeting, according to the Press Association.

The Times of London reported Tuesday that tax filings showed a U.S. World Cup subsidiary paid Infantino $1.76 million in undeclared compensation in 2024, including more than $620,000 for a Miami housing allowance, alongside a $3.57 million FIFA lease for an empty office in Trump Tower in Manhattan, according to the Post. Infantino has also faced resignation calls from the presidents of three continental confederations, including UEFA, over a secret plan to bring private investment into a company running FIFA’s commercial rights, developed with Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. The plan was scrapped after the uproar, and UEFA went to federal court in Florida seeking subpoenas against Thrive Capital.

Infantino is seeking a fourth term as FIFA president, with the organization’s presidential election scheduled for March.

Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post, the Press Association and the Times of London.