Trump Pushes Solo U.S. Bid for 2038 World Cup as He Praises Infantino

Q: What FIFA rule loophole allowed the unprecedented reversal of a player's red card during the World Cup?

The loophole was **Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code**, which lets FIFA’s judicial body **suspend the implementation of a disciplinary sanction** and place the player on probation instead of making the ban take effect immediately. That mattered because a straight red card normally triggers an **automatic one-match suspension** under FIFA’s standard rules, including the World Cup competition regulations. In Balogun’s case, however, the disciplinary committee did not erase the red card itself. It used Article 27 to **suspend the one-game ban for a one-year probationary period**, which made him eligible to play against Belgium. The controversy arose because this appeared to override the usual automatic-ban framework. Critics, including Belgium’s federation and UEFA, argued that red-card suspensions in the World Cup are meant to be automatic and consistently enforced. FIFA’s position was that Article 27 gave its disciplinary body the discretion to delay enforcement of the sanction, so long as the case did not involve match manipulation. So the key rule mechanism was not a formal appeal overturning the red card, but **the discretionary suspension of the ban under Article 27**.

3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 18

2038 is the next men’s World Cup open for bidding, and Trump said he wants the United States to host it alone rather than again with Mexico and Canada.
Trump floated the idea while praising FIFA president Gianni Infantino at a Trump Tower reception, saying FIFA should “pick somebody else for the next one” to ease “anger, hatred and steam.”
Infantino also suggested a joint U.S.-China World Cup, Trump said, joking that teams would face a “nice short flight” between games.
Bidding will be competitive because 2030 has already gone to six hosts across Europe, Africa and South America, while Saudi Arabia will stage 2034 and North America remains eligible for 2038.
Trump has increasingly inserted himself into World Cup matters, including saying he called Infantino over Folarin Balogun’s red card before FIFA unusually lifted the automatic suspension.