Once Again, Trump Poisons Everything He Touches
For a moment there it looked like he wasn't going to ruin the World Cup. Alas...
We went from “Trump is going to ruin the World Cup” to “Not even Trump can ruin the World Cup,” and unfortunately, now we’ve come around to “Trump is ruining the World Cup.”
For those who don’t care about this tournament, stick around — this is a story about sports, but it’s also a story about politics and national identity and communal emotions and crass elite corruption.
A quick recap for those who haven’t been following: In the USA men’s soccer team’s match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday, USA striker Folarin Balogun (now America’s most famous birthright citizen) was issued a red card for a play in which he and an opposing player got tangled up as they fell after dueling for the ball. A red card means you’re ejected from the game and are ineligible to play in the next game; it’s supposed to be reserved for intentional, egregious violations of the rules or dangerous play. This was a big problem for the Americans, since Balogun has emerged as the breakout star of the team and would be sorely missed in the game against Belgium Monday night.
During and after Wednesday’s game, the near-universal belief among American fans was that the red card was a terrible call; while Balogun did land on the other player’s ankle, it was clearly unintentional and occurred in a fraction of a second as they were falling. The more appropriate penalty would have been a yellow card (essentially a warning) at most. You can judge for yourself:
Sucks for the Americans, but what are you gonna do? Once the call is made, there’s nothing you can do. Them’s the rules.
Until Donald Trump got involved.
According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, the White House swung into action, attempting to use its power to get the call reversed, despite the fact that under FIFA rules such calls are not supposed to be subject to appeal:
A memo created for U.S. Soccer by lawyers who have worked for Mr. Trump, reviewed by The New York Times, outlined how the federation could find possible gaps in rules around red cards to strengthen its case. Effectively, the three-page document suggested FIFA’s regulations on disciplinary action were sufficiently vague to create grounds for an appeal. It even suggested the appeal invoke the rights of the United States as a nation and threaten to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, the sporting world’s top arbitration body.
Lawyers will do their lawyering, but what really matters is the personal touch. In this case, that meant Donald Trump placing a call to his good buddy Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, to pressure him to get Balogun’s suspension reversed. This is the first case in the history of the World Cup in which a red card suspension has been reversed (although FIFA did a similar suspend-the-suspension for Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the biggest stars in the sport, after he was red-carded during a qualifying game).
Some of the football cognoscenti have responded by pointing out that this shouldn’t be surprising since FIFA has long been guilty of all kinds of corruption. Which is true. And while Infantino hasn’t been taken down by scandal in the way his predecessor was, his critics charge that he has ruled FIFA like a king, and one who has prospered by being unashamed about all the payoffs, influence-peddling, and double-dealing.
Sound familiar?
Infantino and Donald Trump may not be exactly the same species, but they certainly have a lot in common. When Infantino invented the “FIFA Peace Prize” for Trump and gave it to him (along with a medal for him to wear), it was widely seen as both embarrassing and a smart leader getting what he wanted from Trump by treating him like a toddler. It was that, but there’s another side to the story, which is that Infantino has expended a lot of energy getting close to Trump, becoming one of the president’s informal advisers on foreign policy.
He has gone on trips with Trump to the Middle East, is for some reason involved in the “Board of Peace” effort to exploit Gaza for Trump’s own profit (he came to the first meeting and put on a MAGA hat), and even rented office space for FIFA in Trump Tower. As the New York Times reported, “The rent goes to President Trump’s family business, but soccer officials say the space sits largely idle.”
Everyone still loves soccer despite the corruption
Infantino’s defenders will say that whatever money and influence is changing hands under his watch, the sport is more popular than ever, so how do you argue with the results? And there are ways in which that’s true. Every World Cup, it seems, is beset with problems of one kind or another (like the horrible abuse of migrant workers leading up to the 2022 Cup in Qatar), but once the tournament starts, the joy and excitement overwhelm everything else, allowing the world to experience patriotic fervor without actually killing each other.
And there is plenty of that. Here’s one of my favorite moments, when after Brazil beat Japan, a sobbing Japanese fan was consoled by Brazilians, and they all joined together in a spirit of fellowship:
It’s kind of ridiculous to care that much about a game, but that’s part of what makes it charming.
For a week or two there, it looked like Trump wasn’t going to ruin the World Cup after all — ratings are through the roof, there have been some great games and great stories like the improbable run of tiny Cabo Verde, and everyone was having a terrific time. But now Trump has cast a shadow over the whole tournament.
Yet in his mind, I’m sure this is a “win” for America. He used his power to twist the rules, and got what he wanted. But now if Balogun hits the winning goal against Belgium, the global outrage will be enormous. Every member of this team will be tainted, regarded as cheaters for the rest of their careers (though of course it isn’t their fault, least of all Balogun’s).
If the US loses, on the other hand, you’ll see people around the globe gleefully dunking on us, just as they have about the Iran war and Trump’s numerous economic own-goals. Trump’s intervention doesn’t just make the world hate us, it makes the world root for our failure.
In Trump’s dark and twisted heart, he can’t see that. He believes all that matters is whether you’re a “winner,” and that winning requires cheating and lying and scamming. As usual, he corrupts everything he touches.
I’m sure I’m not the only fan whose excitement about tonight’s game has been severely dampened. I don’t want the U.S. to lose, but I kind of hope that Balogun has a bad game and they win anyway. Or maybe he could just ask to be benched for the game. I doubt that will happen; he’ll probably just go out and give it his best.
Either way, the damage has been done. Trump gave the world yet another reason to conclude that the United States is a bully and a cheater that demands everyone else live by rules it is free to ignore. It’s one more in a long line of losses this president has brought our country.
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I want the USA to lose, just like I wanted a thunderstorm over Trump's corrupt and empty 4th event.
Wow, am I ever glad that I don't give a rip about soccer! I'd rather watch paint dry. However, it's obvious that Trump has, once again, made himself (and, by extension, the entire USA) look idiotic and selfish. So what else is new?