Corruption spreads

​Today in the World Cup football (soccer) arena, the USA plays Belgium for progress into the quarterfinals. The United States has been one of the standout stories of this World Cup. This team has played with quality, courage, and has earned its following and respected reputation on the pitch. That is why what has happened off the pitch matters so much.

Folarin Balogun, arguably the teams best player, received a red card at the last match which resulted in immediate suspension and his mandated missing of the next game. That suspension has now been removed following a White House confirmed call from Donald Trump directly to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Those are the facts of the sequence. The debate of whether the red card itself was merited is irrelevant to what has occurred, as the referees decision on the field is final.

The President of the hosting nation, calling the head of the world football’s governing body, regarding his nation’s team progress, was followed by an immediate reversal of that disciplinary outcome. This is enough on its own to create a serious problem of perception.

Because in international sport, perception is legitimacy.

You do not need to prove improper intent for damage to be done. The moment political authority and sporting discipline occupy the same chain of events, the independence of the system is questioned. And once that question is asked, it does not go away.

This is not only about football.

The United States has always relied on the idea that its systems operate independently of personal or political pressure — courts, regulators, public health institutions, law enforcement, and international engagement. The moment those systems are seen, fairly or unfairly, as responsive to proximity to power, trust erodes.

And that perception does not stop at home.

Among allies, there is already an ongoing sentiment of how undue American political influence is exercised globally. When a superpower appears close to decisions in major international institutions — whether in diplomacy, trade, or even sport — it reinforces an uncomfortable conclusion: that access matters more than process, and that outcomes can be shaped at the highest level.

That is corrosive to trust. It is corrosive to sport. And it is corrosive to the credibility of the United States itself.

Back to football, none of this takes away from what the players have achieved. They have done their job with professionalism and pride, and they should be judged only on their performance.

But the noise around the tournament has ensured that their football is no longer the only story, and the world is now viewing us as cheats, having gained an unfair advantage. Support internationally has now shifted away from the US team. And that is the real loss, and is indicative of how we are perceived in a broader global sense.

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