Full disclosure: I am not a soccer fan. As a typical American who was born in the 1940s, I never played soccer as a kid. We never followed it, and I still never follow it. During the 1980s, I was living in Milan, Italy, and our apartment was literally across the street from the famed San Siro Stadium. Try as I did, I just couldn't get excited over the game. I went to one game and left before it was over.
In 1990, I had occasion to actually attend the World Cup in Italy in an official capacity (DEA) as we werer attempting to capture the leaders of the Cali cartel, who we thought would be attending the games since Colombia had qualified for the Cup. While the games didn't particularly interest me, I was impressed by the sheer spectacle that the international fans brought.
However, I have no interest in paying exorbitant prices to attend any of the games, and except for three games (Portugal-Croatia, Argentina-Cape Verde, and Mexico-England), all great games, I have not watched any of the games on TV. We did pull for Mexico since the Missus is from Mexico.
While there have been a couple of unfortunate incidents, as is to be expected with this sport, it seems the games have gone off very well, in the US, Mexico, and Canada, which are hosting the games. All in all, it seems that the foreigners attending the games are enjoying themselves and are impressed with the US. and the other host countries.
But now, the integrity of FIFA, the international body that oversees the games and which is notoriously corrupt, has once again been called into question. And, of course, President Trump has once again managed to suck all of the oxygen out of the room. I am referring, of course, to the controversial red card penalty against the American team's top player, Folarin Balogun, in its last match against. Bosnia-Herzegovina. Of course, I am the last person to analyze what should be a yellow card, red card, suspension, or anything else in soccer. Looking at the replay, it sure looked like incidental contact to me, nothing that would merit sending a player off with a one-game suspension. To many Americans, this is just another case of the refs screwing the US team.
So, as a result of the automatic suspension, the US was scheduled to play its next game (tonight) against Belgium without its top scorer.
Enter President Trump. Yesterday, he made a phone call to the head of FIFA, Giovanni Infantino, and asked that their committee reconsider the call. They did exactly that, and as of now, Balogun will play against Belgium.
Understandably, Belgium is outraged and is appealing the decision. Due to Trump's intervention, international politics is now in full play. As of this writing, the Democrats have yet to call for impeachment, but that too could change within hours.
I personally don't care either way. I hope the US wins, but if they don't, I won't be crying in my beer. I guess what it comes down to is whether FIFA follows its procedures to the letter in its rulings. The red card seemed unfair to begin with, but I am no expert. The reversal, coupled with Trump's phone call to Infantino, has created a mess that threatens to overshadow the games overall. If Balogun plays and the US wins, Belgium will be furious. If Balogun doesn't play and Belgium wins, US fans will complain but will get over it in a couple of days.
After all, it's only a game, right?
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