Zeros

The Red Card Heard Round the White House On Sunday, FIFA did something it had not done at a World Cup since 1962: it rescinded a red card . Folarin Balogun , the American forward who'd been sent off for a foul on Bosnia and Herzegovina's Tarik Muharemović , was staring down a one-game suspension that would've cost the U.S. its best scorer against Belgium . Then the phone rang in Gianni Infantino's office, and the caller ID read President of the United States . Hours later, FIFA's disciplinary committee announced the suspension was, "suspended for a probationary period of one year." Balogun played. Belgium called it an insult. Their coach compared FIFA's timing to April Fools' Day , four months late. Let's be clear about what actually happened, because the mechanism matters more than the outrage . A red card triggers an automatic ban — that's the rule , no discretion involved . What FIFA invoked instead was Article 27 of i...