Democrats never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity

A top American soccer player will get to play in the World Cup tonight after FIFA, which runs the tournament, reversed a terrible decision banning him. That's good, right? Not if you're on the left.

International soccer is notoriously corrupt. Infamously corrupt.

How corrupt? In 2015, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn indicted nine officials at FIFA, the Swiss federation that owns the World Cup soccer tournament, on bribery charges.¹

How corrupt? The 2018 World Cup was played in Russia. The 2022 cup was in Qatar — in December, because Qatar is too hot for soccer in summer, when the tourney should be played. Both countries allegedly bribed officials to win the chance to host.

How corrupt? Maybe the most famous goal in World Cup history came in 1986 when the Argentinian striker Diego Maradona punched in a score. Yes, I mean “punched” literally. You may be aware soccer generally frowns on using hands. No matter, the goal stood. Argentina beat England 2-1. Maradona said later he’d used his hand as revenge for the Falklands War. The goal became known as the “Hand of God.”

Getting the picture?

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(Getting the picture. For pennies a day!)

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I mention all this not-so-ancient history because the usual suspects were up in their usual arms last night, baying about the malign influence of Donald Trump.

What did Trump do this time?

Well.

On Wednesday, as the United States played Bosnia in Santa Clara in an elimination game in the 2026 World Cup, the referee gave a red card to Folarin Balogun, the American striker.

A red card is the most severe penalty a player can receive. It leads to his immediate expulsion. Further, he cannot be replaced, so his team must play a man down for the rest of the game. however long that might be.

Red cards are reserved for acts that are intentional and violent, dangerous, or unsportsmanlike (like spitting, or knocking over an opposing player about to score). In last week’s game, Balogun raked his right foot over a Bosnian player’s right heel. Soccer shoes have hard cleats, so Balogun’s move was painful, but it wasn’t intentional, and it didn’t do deep damage. The Bosnian player played the full game.

My son now plays soccer competitively (and well), so I’ve watched a lot of soccer lately. This call was — at best — extremely marginal. Soccer is a surprisingly physical game. Players are constantly jockeying for position, and they regularly tangle up their legs and feet. Watching replays at real-time speed, it is clear Balogun had no intent to hurt the other player.

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(Diego Maradona, 1986. SOMEBODY put a hand on that ball, for sure.)

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No matter, the ref gave a red.

The United States had to play 10 on 11 the rest of the game. But the American team won, reaching the round of 16, where it will play Belgium tonight, Monday, in Seattle.

The two teams will be at full strength, 11 on 11. But the red card meant that Balogun couldn’t play tonight. His suspension marked a significant loss for the United States; he’s been the best American player so far this World Cup.

So the Trump administration asked FIFA if… it could take another look at the penalty.

Guess what?

FIFA could!

Turns out that under FIFA’s Article 27, the federation can “suspend” the suspension for up to four years, essentially putting a player on probation. And that’s what it did.

On the merits, letting Balogun play is clearly the right move. Bouncing him for one game for a marginal foul was bad enough. Forcing him to sit for a second would have been totally unfair.

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The reversal gave the American left a perfect chance to act bipartisan (while giving up nothing substantive). It could have congratulated President Trump for encouraging FIFA to fix the suspension and let the 22 best players from the United States and Belgium compete tonight.

After all, that’s the point of the World Cup.

Except, because FIFA only acted after Trump got involved, Democrats not only wouldn’t take his side, they whined endlessly that Trump had somehow damaged FIFA’s perfect integrity and processes by getting involved.

“Man does this look awful for FIFA and it will make the rest of the world feel like the tournament was rigged,” podcaster and former Obama staffer Tommy Vietor posted on X.

New York Times columnist Nick Kristof added:

This will appear to the world as favoritism and as FIFA bowing to political influence. If the U.S. wins, I fear that much of the world will see it as a win with an asterisk and as Trump’s America making its own rules even in the sports world.

And the Times itself harrumphed that it was the “first time since 1962 that FIFA has allowed a player to appear in a game when they should have been suspended.”

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1962?

Actually, FIFA used the same loophole in last November to let Cristiano Ronaldo play in this World Cup. As the Times should have known, considering it covered the story.

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(2025 is the new 1962)

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Ronaldo had received his red card for elbowing another player in the back, a far clearer violation that’s far more deserving of a suspension.

But FIFA’s decision to let him play didn’t cause any weeping or gnashing of teeth from all the people whining about the group’s holy and unimpeachable processes today.

Ronaldo is among the world’s best-known, best-paid, and most popular players. He’d have to do a lot more than throw an elbow to get kicked out of the World Cup.

And — to go back to the initial point — soccer and FIFA are no one’s idea of pure. What happened last night is a little like the old saw about the judge who asked for bribes from both sides so he could decide on the merits.

The right result was reached. In its unwillingness to admit that reality, the left looks not just petty but anti-American. No wonder Democrats are even more unpopular than Republicans.

If the left wants America to love — or even like — it, it has to start by not hating America.

1. One might reasonably ask why American law enforcement officials spent millions of taxpayer dollars to chase corruption by (mostly) non-Americans at international soccer federation, but that’s a question for another day.