Norwegian Football Federation targets FIFA over Trump’s World Cup intervention, and it matters beyond the pitch

The Norwegian Football Federation is preparing to file a formal ethics complaint with FIFA over what it sees as a breathtaking breach of institutional integrity: US President Donald Trump allegedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to get a player’s suspension reversed during the 2026 World Cup. And it worked. NFF president Lise Klaveness plans to seek board approval at a meeting on August 6 to move forward with the complaint. The target isn’t just Trump’s phone call. It’s the entire chain of events that allowed a head of state to override a sporting body’s disciplinary process with what appears to have been a single conversation. What actually happened Here’s the sequence. Folarin Balogun, a striker for the US national team, received a red card during a 2026 World Cup match. Standard procedure: red card means a one-match suspension. Then Trump reportedly contacted Infantino directly about the ban. Shortly after that outreach, Balogun’s suspension was lifted. Trump publicly celebrated the reversal, calling it a “great decision” and framing it as the correction of an “injustice.” Norway’s head coach Ståle Solbakken was not impressed. He pointed the finger squarely at FIFA rathe...