Exclusive | Gianni Infantino fixed US World Cup star Baloguns red card after call with Trump: FIFA sources

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino broke the global soccer body’s own rules and fixed the scrapping of USMNT star Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card during a phone call with President Donald Trump, four sources briefed on the matter told The Post.The Swiss-Italian sports chief agreed to quash the forward’s suspension, breaching the global organization’s own disciplinary code, in talks with the commander-in-chief on July 1, the four FIFA insiders said.“He told President Trump that he would take care of it.One call and it was done,” said one of the sources told The Post.Balogun was sent off during his side’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning he would have been ineligible for the key clash against Belgium without Infantino’s extraordinary intervention.He previously claimed that he had no involvement with the decision.It could put fresh pressure on Infantino, who angered soccer fans and federations alike when he secretly struck a deal to sell off FIFA’s commercial rights to Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital.The Post broke the story that the plan had been scrapped amid the outrage as Infantino eyes a fourth term at the top of global soccer in FIFA’s presidential election this March.Leaked documents obtained by The Post show the shadowy Zurich-based organization is quietly rewriting its disciplinary code.Late Tuesday night, just 36 hours before a high-stakes crisis summit in Switzerland, the non-profit’s top brass sent a draft code change that forbids FIFA legal panels from suspending automatic one-game bans for red cards.

In an accompanying memo, FIFA officials claimed the rewrite is needed to ensure stability and protect the integrity of competitions.Critics inside European soccer federations say the midnight filing is an admission of guilt.They view the rule change as a retroactive attempt to cover up Infantino’s meddling in the Folarin Balogun case after outreach from President Donald Trump.Ironically, Balogun, who was also eligible to ...