Gianni Infantino is not fit for purpose

Gianni Infantino, the president of world football organisation FIFA, keeps sinking to new depths in his pathetic attempt to appease US President Donald Trump.

Only last December, Infantino awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to Trump during the final draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

It just happens that weeks later Trump sent his elite troops into Venezuela to capture its president in breach of international law, and sometime later started bombarding Iran in a war that has caused global havoc.

Trump had been expecting that he be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year—Malta’s then Foreign Minister Ian Borg had pathetically supported the bid—but Norwegian scholars thought otherwise.

The US President then threw a hissy fit messaging Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that he no longer feels bound “to think purely of peace”, even though the Norwegian government has no say in the prize.

But then came Infantino along with a new prize that would be awarded yearly by FIFA and surprise of all surprises the first winner was Trump. The sulking guy at the White House was appeased.

On 5 December 2025, at the World Cup draws ceremony, Infantino told Trump: “You definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize for your action, for what you have obtained in your way, but you have obtained it in an incredible way. You can always count, Mr President, on my support, on the support of the entire football community—or ‘soccer’ community—to help you make peace and make the world prosper all over the world.”

If the charade had stopped at that, it would be absurd but of no consequence to the rules of the game and the sporting behaviour on the pitch—which is what matters most.

But few would have thought that Infantino’s words that Trump can “always count” on his support would have translated into a corruption of the game itself. And yet it happened in the World Cup tournament being played in the US, Canada and Mexico.

On Sunday, FIFA removed the automatic one match suspension handed down to US football star Folarin Balogun after he was sent off during the United States’ 2-0 win over Bosnia Herzegovina in the Round of 32. Balogun was shown the red card for a challenge on Tarik Muharemovic, which should have ruled him out of Tuesday’s Round of 16 match against Belgium.

However, FIFA lifted the suspension after Trump called Infantino to ask him to reconsider the case. FIFA said it would not withdraw the red card itself but would suspend the ban for a year on probation under Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code.

The surprise decision left the Belgian Football Association “astonished”, arguing that it contradicts Article 66.4 of the same code, which states that a red card automatically triggers a one-match ban.

European Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef also weighed in on the decision, saying it was “wrong” but insisting that sporting decisions must remain the preserve of sporting bodies rather than political figures. It was a double-edged comment that could be interpreted as a dig towards Infantino for allowing a political figure to influence the sporting body.

Even if FIFA’s own rules do seem to grant the organisation the power to make such a decision, there is no doubt in any right-thinking person’s mind that this was Infantino sucking up to Trump. The problem here is that the decision alters the rules of the game in the middle of a tournament—an ad hoc decision made to appease one country, or rather one man.

Had FIFA decided to lift all red-card bans going into the next round, there may have been a plausible argument to make even if criticisable.

Other players in Balogun’s predicament have had to serve a suspension or will have to serve a suspension, such as England’s Jarell Quansah, who received a red card in the match against Mexico and will miss the Round of 16 game against Norway.

The European footballing organisation, UEFA, was correct when it said suspending Balogun’s red card ban “crossed a red line”.

UEFA said football “relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition” and a minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is “not a discretionary option”.

“It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension,” UEFA said, outlining the lack of fairness in FIFA’s decision.

The problem is Gianni Infantino. He has become a disgrace to football and is no longer fit for purpose.