Balogun red card storm could be 'fatal misstep' for FIFA's Infantino, says rights group

July 6 : Human rights group FairSquare says U.S. President Donald Trump's intervention over Folarin Balogun's red-card ban should be investigated as a breach of FIFA's rules on political neutrality and could mark the beginning of the end of Gianni Infantino's presidency.

Trump confirmed on Monday that he had contacted Infantino over the red card, which was set to rule Balogun out of the U.S. team's World Cup last-16 match against Belgium until the punishment was suspended by FIFA's disciplinary committee on Sunday.

Infantino, who has run the global governing body since 2016, said in a statement that the disciplinary body was independent and he had no involvement in the decision that freed Balogun to play in the match later on Monday. 

FairSquare, a non-profit organisation specialising in sports and human rights, believes FIFA's increasing political alignment has been an issue going back to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.   

"I don't think there's any question they've become far too politically aligned," Nicholas McGeehan, director and co-founder of FairSquare, told Reuters. 

"I think that the politicisation, probably on account of how Trump carries on, has become most obviously blatantly problematic (in the U.S.). But I think this is a trend that that has come into force ... since Infantino came to power, for sure."

Fifty members of the European Parliament wrote to FIFA's ethics committee this month backing FairSquare's complaint against Infantino over his support for Trump's political agenda, including the award of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to the U.S. President. 

"I think if we continue to see those types of political interventions, that's going to put real pressure on Infantino," McGeehan said.  

"I think Infantino is a