Trump role in World Cup red-card ruling for Balogun pushes Norway toward FIFA ethics complaint

Trump role in World Cup red-card ruling for Balogun pushes Norway toward FIFA ethics complaint 1 of 3 | FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, and President Donald J. Trump talk as they wait to congratulate the Spanish players after the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 2 of 3 | United States’ Folarin Balogun (20) walks off the pitch after losing to Belgium in their World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) 3 of 3 | FIFA President Gianni Infantino, center, in the stands ahead of the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Norway in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) 1 of 3 | FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, and President Donald J. Trump talk as they wait to congratulate the Spanish players after the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 1 of 3 FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, and President Donald J. Trump talk as they wait to congratulate the Spanish players after the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 3 | United States’ Folarin Balogun (20) walks off the pitch after losing to Belgium in their World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) 2 of 3 United States’ Folarin Balogun (20) walks off the pitch after losing to Belgium in their World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 3 | FIFA President Gianni Infantino, center, in the stands ahead of the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Norway in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) 3 of 3 FIFA President Gianni Infantino, center, in the stands ahead of the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Norway in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s role in clearing Folarin Balogun from a mandatory one-game ban at the World Cup is set to provoke a formal complaint to FIFA ethics investigators.The Norway soccer federation said Thursday its board of directors will consider filing the complaint at its next meeting, likely on Aug. 6.“We need our leader in FIFA to say that this was an error,” Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness told London daily The Times in an interview published Thursday.After Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a one-game ban for Balogun’s red-card tackle against Bosnia-Herzegovina was deferred so he could play against Belgium with a quarterfinals place at stake.Belgium beat the U.S. 4-1 after a chaotic 36 hours at the World Cup. The Belgium players were seemingly fired up by one of the all-time controversies in tournament history. Trump called the referee’s red card for Balogun after video review a “horrible” call and took credit for getting FIFA to review what should routinely have been a one-game ban.“We all know that this verdict was influenced from external forces and did not have the proper process,” Klaveness told The Times of the FIFA ruling that was unprecedented in the past 60 years at World Cups.“When you bend a rule like this, you’re on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk,” said the former Women’s World Cup player for Norway, who is an elected member of European soccer body UEFA’s executive committee. 1 MIN READ 2 MIN READ 1 MIN READ Soccer’s conscienceKlaveness is a lawyer and judge who has positioned the Norwegian federation as a conscience in world soccer since her election in 2022.“It is a worry for the game when you compromise fundamental rules of the game,” she said Thursday about not enforcing Balogun’s ban.Norway previously joined a London-based NGO’s complaint to the FIFA ethics committee alleging Infantino breached a statutory duty of political neutrality, including by creating a peace prize to award to Trump at the World Cup draw in December.The close personal and political ties between Trump and Infantino include the U.S. president believing the soccer official could be a good pick as next secretary general of the United Nations, the New York Post reported this week. Olympics complaintThe human rights NGO, FairSquare, also has filed an ethics complaint about the Balogun incident to the International Olympic Committee, where Infantino is an elected member, about breaching its rules on political neutrality.FIFA and the IOC rarely acknowledge or provide updates on potential cases before their ethics bodies. The independence of FIFA’s process to handle complaints alleging unethical conduct has been questioned since the lead investigator and judge both were replaced in 2017, in the second year of Infantino’s presidency. FIFA has yet to publish documents explaining how its disciplinary judges reached verdicts about Balogun or other World Cup players.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage Dunbar is an Associated Press sports news reporter in Geneva, Switzerland. He focuses on the governing bodies, institutions and politics of international sports.