{"id":1118,"date":"2026-07-06T22:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T22:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2026-07-06T22:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T22:44:43","slug":"fifas-lesson-for-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1118","title":{"rendered":"FIFA\u2019s Lesson for Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is an edition of <\/i>The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. <\/i>Sign up for it here.<\/i><\/small><\/p>\n

Read more Atlantic Trivia: Mystery Meat<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This evening, the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team will take on Belgium in a World Cup Round of 16 match in Seattle. Much to U.S.A. fans\u2019 relief, and to Belgians\u2019 chagrin, the team will have the services of the striker Folarin Balogun.<\/p>\n

The star player was sent off during last week\u2019s U.S.A. victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina after receiving a red card; that meant he was also suspended for his team\u2019s next game. To my casual fan\u2019s eye, the punishment was excessive. Another casual fan, President Trump, apparently agreed, and called his pal Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, to press him for a review. Yesterday FIFA announced that Balogun would receive one year\u2019s probation but not be forced to miss today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

The incident is rich in ironies. Trump, who has been raging at the Supreme Court for blocking his attempt to end birthright citizenship, felt compelled to go to bat for Balogun, whom Politico <\/i>recently called \u201cAmerica\u2019s favorite birthright citizen.\u201d (He was born in the United States after his very pregnant mother was not permitted to board a plane back to London, where she lived, and where he grew up.) Meanwhile, some American fans who usually hate to see suits interfering in their sports are cheering FIFA on because the decision seems like a triumph of American exceptionalism.<\/p>\n

Most of all, it is a fable about the corrosive effects of corruption on the ability to govern. Perhaps Balogun\u2019s reprieve is itself \u201cjust\u201d in the sense that he never deserved a red card, but the process that led to it smacks of impropriety. Because of FIFA\u2019s long history of corruption, no one will ever believe that the organization made its decision disinterestedly, even if it somehow did. Trump would be wise to take note.<\/p>\n

FIFA is an infamously corrupt organization. Years of allegations and complaints culminated in a 2015 Justice Department indictment of several top soccer officials on charges including racketeering, wire fraud, and money-laundering conspiracies. FIFA\u2019s then-president, Sepp Blatter, was forced out, although he was not indicted; several people, including the high-ranking American FIFA official Chuck Blazer, pleaded guilty. Infantino was brought in to clean things up, but many observers continue to see corruption at the heart of the organization. Trump even played to this history in appealing for Balogun\u2019s reinstatement, implying (without evidence) that the referee who made the call was crooked.<\/p>\n

Infantino suggested that Trump\u2019s call didn\u2019t affect the outcome, and U.S. Coach Mauricio Pochettino insisted that Balogun\u2019s reprieve unfolded through a \u201cnormal process,\u201d and said that politicians should not lobby FIFA on specific issues. \u201cWe cannot mix that,\u201d he said. But long before Balogun, Infantino showed that he was willing to go to embarrassing lengths to flatter Trump, such as inventing a peace prize for him.<\/p>\n

Both the Belgian and European football federations are livid. Among their points are that although FIFA cited a specific rule to suspend Balogun\u2019s red card, another rule seems to make clear that a red card requires a game out; FIFA has never suspended a red card for a World Cup game since the current rule came into effect. The federations have implied, not without justification, that the decision was tainted. \u201cThe integrity of the game is at stake,\u201d UEFA, the European group, warns. If the U.S. advances, this decision will be remembered bitterly for years, and any visitor displaying the Stars and Stripes in Antwerp may be inviting trouble.<\/p>\n

While all this wrangling was occurring over the weekend, the Justice Department was dealing with a different accusation of corruption. DOJ filed a letter to a federal judge who demanded an explanation for why bribery charges were dropped against the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, whose lawyer\u2014who happens to have also represented Trump\u2014said that Adani could invest $10 billion in the United States if charges were dropped. Trent McCotter, the principal associate deputy attorney general, did not dispute that offer, but said that it played no role. \u201cBefore that topic first arose, I had already firmly concluded I would seek dismissal of the securities charges no matter what,\u201d he wrote, adding that it was not \u201ca close call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is true, but, like FIFA, the Trump administration will never get the benefit of the doubt. Once an administration makes overt corruption its modus operandi, and once it turns the Justice Department into a political arm of the White House, no one is likely to believe that the charges against Adani were weak, and that a quid pro quo hadn\u2019t occurred.<\/p>\n

Read more A Sad Kind of Convenience<\/a><\/p>\n

Another big topic over the weekend was Trump\u2019s enormous gains in crypto, which amounted to at least $1.4 billion last year. (Many investors lost their shirts.) Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and even more former Trump ally, called it a \u201cPutin-esque type of corruption and self-enrichment.\u201d Trump, for his part, insisted that he\u2019d done nothing wrong, and also that he didn\u2019t know about the deals that made the money. Once again, no one is likely to believe it.<\/p>\n

Trump might consider FIFA a role model: It has seemed to get away with its malfeasance for decades with little effect. The same isn\u2019t true for its leaders, though. Blatter looked unassailable right up to the moment he was toppled; his long-running heir apparent was also pushed out, which is how Infantino ended up as FIFA president in the first place.<\/p>\n

Moreover, FIFA is not a government. It\u2019s able to maintain its position in part by circulating enough money around to quiet any complainers, and also because no matter how much some people care about soccer, it\u2019s still just a sport. The federal government, by contrast, has to maintain a popular mandate. That\u2019s difficult when you give voters so much reason to assume the worst.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/b><\/p>\n

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