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Insiders spill new details on Trump's meddling in FIFA to get USA player back on field
When a Red Card Meets the White HouseTrump’s inner circle did not wait for the dust to settle. Within minutes of Folarin Balogun’s red card, the machinery of presidential access was in motion: Andrew Giuliani alerted Trump, Howard Lutnick and U.S. Soccer moved to challenge the call, and Trump himself phoned FIFA president Gianni Infantino. FIFA then suspended the one-match ban and cleared Balogun to play.The Power Was Never on the PitchThe source of authority here was not the referee, and not even the disciplinary code. It was the office of the president and the institutional reach that comes…
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