Aleksander Ceferin elected not to attend the 2026 World Cup final due to Donald Trump’s intervention in the Folarin Balogun red card.
The UEFA President was nowhere to be seen at the MetLife Stadium as Spain were crowned champions of the world for the second time.
As the leader of UEFA, he would have been expected to be in attendance, especially as a European nation were in the final.
However, after the White House intervened to get Balogun’s red card suspended earlier in the tournament, he decided not to attend.
A report in The Times claims that the relationship between Ceferin and FIFA president Gianni Infantino is broken, and that this Balogun red card was the final straw.
What makes Ceferin’s absence even more astonishing is that he is FIFA’s Vice-President.
He is also reportedly annoyed at Somali referee Omar Artan being denied entry to the United States and for the treatment of the Iran national team throughout the tournament.
Artan has been offered the UEFA Super Cup between Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain after he was barred from entering the USA.
Ceferin is also strongly against any further expansion of the World Cup.
The 2026 edition was the biggest ever, with 48 teams competing, and there are plans for it to be turned into a 64-team event.
Ceferin was also a very vocal critique of the extortionate ticket prices at this World Cup, with UEFA choosing not to adopt some of the rule changes that were introduced for the World Cup.
The most notable one UEFA won’t adopt is red cards for players who cover their mouths during confrontations.
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The straw that broke the camel’s back
Balogun had shone for the USA as they made it to the round of 16. However, he was sent off during the 2-0 win over Bosnia in the last-32.
It was thought to be a harsh red card, but FIFA hadn’t included any appeal system for the World Cup, meaning he would be banned for the match against Belgium.
However, it was then revealed that Trump phoned Infantino to ask FIFA to review the suspension.
This was confirmed by White House official Emily Goodin who said: “The President and Infantino did speak, and the President wanted to better understand the reason why a red card was given and why there was a suspension.
“The appeal process is run by an independent board.
“The U.S. government provided additional evidence that was used in the appeal process.”
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FIFA insisted that the final decision rested with the independent board, and they opted to suspend the ban for a year.
This decision was slammed by UEFA who had one of their nations having to prepare for a player who shouldn’t have been available due to their being no appeal process.
And they issued a very strong statement that read: “Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line.
“Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition.
“Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.
“A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. 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.
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“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.
“Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.
“Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws.
“A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Fallout continues
Despite the World Cup being over, Infantino continues to be hammered from all angles.
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The latest to have a go is US Soccer’s Vice-President, Nathan Goldberg Crenier.
In a piece for The Guardian, he slammed FIFA for ‘cosying up’ to Trump and suspending Balogun’s red card.
Specifically on that, he said: “When it comes to Trump’s meddling in the Balogun case, the biggest casualty was soccer’s integrity.
“Sure, in a narrow sense, US Soccer benefited from having a star player back from suspension.
“But in a more meaningful sense, US Soccer was also a victim: our players were swept up in a political firestorm before the most important game of their lives, and our biggest chance to showcase American soccer to the world will now for ever be tainted by accusations of favoritism at best and corruption at worst, unfairly clouding US Soccer’s credibility and reputation around the world.
“To boot, in return for debasing our sport again and again, Infantino (rewarded) Trump with the honour of handing out the World Cup trophy on Sunday.
“The fact that Infantino has faced little accountability for dragging soccer through the mud reflects a battle for the soul of the sport — about whether its future will be autocratic and hyper-commercialized, rather than a force for good.
“I say no: soccer leaders must reject Infantino’s egotistical and transactional view of the beautiful game.”
