Match 81 [R32]: USA : BIH - CLAUS (BRA)

I have to say, this reads exactly like the answers to the pool reporter questions after a match.

 

Collina putting out a statement supporting Claus is pretty bizarre right? Makes it seem like different components of FIFA are at war with each other.

 

It seems a little odd to me that FIFA’s referee committee would be putting out a statement responding to a politician

 

Interesting that two US staffers were suspended for the match against Belgium - team manager and director of security

 

In the name of all that's holy, please don't let anyone in the political or media realm (not counting myself) know that a security officer was suspended.

 

"King Charles, pick up the white courtesy phone…"

 

Platini enjoys a happy retirement life, drinking pastis and eating good fishes with his buddies Jean Tigana and Manuel Amoros in the restaurant he owns in Cassis near Marseille. I see him there from time to time. I doubt he'll come back to business.

 

Definitely curious. Are these guys typically on the sideline in the dugout?

 

They're all good friends. It’s just that Tigana lives in Cassis, like Platini, and Amoros is in the area too. Tigana is a winemaker these days; he produces a quality wine called 'Dona Tigana'.

 

Just one more post to tie with COL - ENG 2018

 

There are 18 members of FIFA's disciplinary committee but the unprecedented decision to lift Balogun's automatic ban was taken by just one person - the chairman Mohammad Al Kamali of UAE. No one else was consulted.
Full story: https://t.co/DbqEmcPlOT

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) July 12, 2026

https://www.thetimes.com/sport/foot...e/folarin-balogun-ban-world-cup-usa-25z8bfjg3

Sunday Times reporting that the chairman of FIFA’s disciplinary committee made the decision completely alone on Balogun

 

Which means that Infantino called him and Trump and his team called Infantino.

 

It’ll be interesting to see if FIFA issues a denial.

 

Or some kind of Orwellian judo move

 

"What I was told: it was one person who went above everybody here, and this is a person who has relationships with the Trump family – and business relationships as well."

– DP on Folarin Balogun's red card suspension being overturned. pic.twitter.com/Ko4vNVXOlQ

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) July 13, 2026

Just shameless.

 

The US went from a win-win situation where winning without Balogun (best possible outcome) or losing without Balogun (oh well, we had our best goal scorer out) to a lose-lose situation, where even if we had won it would have been tainted. And now that we've lost, it gets even worse.

 

Just to clarify, there is no evidence (at least presented to date) that al-Kamali had any business interests with Trump. I wouldn't consider "What I was told" as a reliable news source, particularly with no details provided. Regardless, I think the optics are terrible and I believe reinstating Balogun backfired.

 

Al-Kamali is the first Asian or Middle Eastern person to hold his position, so it was predictable that the trope against him would be along the lines of "a rich Arab, so he must be corrupt." Mix that with politics, and you have "Trump and al-Kamali are in this together..." How doesn't need to be said, it is enough to simply paint the Arab as on the take.

Al-Kamali is a powerful attorney, who is a partner at one of the largest law firms in the middle east, and who has serve in various ways on Olympic Committees. Most of his firm's clients are horse owners, or athletes, and he has experience with some European top-flight teams as his firm often does arbitration for players on the transfer markets. When players contracts (usually their third contract) thereis often a "sell on percentage." Here is a real example: Tillmean signs with Bayern, loaned to Rangers, then PSV. PSV signs takes over his contract (for something like 10 million going to Bayern). Then later, PSV sells him to Bayer Leverkusen for soemthing like 30million. PSV is suppsoed to give a percentage of that 20 mil increase back to Bayern, based upon the increased value from the time he was on loan but owned by Bayren. Almost guaranteed nobody agrees on what the increased value is, so that is subject to arbitration, and that is what Al-Kamali and his firm specializes in. Can you see why he's on the FIFA disciplinary committee? Oh, one more thing-- al-Kamali himself is not primarilly a soccer guy. He is into horses. Equestrian, polo, the whole thing. Oh, and his co-chiar, Jorge Palacio, is a former supreme court justice in Columbia, and is the soccer side of the relationship. I personally wouldn't buy the whole "he acted on his own without consulting anyone else" thing. At all.

Meanwhile, Trump buys real estate and is building a giant tower in Dubai.

Who knows, maybe one day al-Kamali and Trump will go into business together (can you imagine Trump negotiating on the transfer market?), but until then the idea that becasue Al Kamali is Arab he must be for sale to Trump is insluting in both directions.

 

It seems like it’s very common for disciplinary decisions to be made by one member of the committee, so that part doesn’t seem as nefarious as people are trying to make it out to be

 

It would be very interesting to know the actual facts. It does seem odd to me that a single person would make a decision of this magnitude and departure from past practice without consulting anyone else. Once again, FIFA does itself no favors with the veil of secrecy that invites conspiracy theories--especially following the presidential call to Infantino and the President taking credit for the reversal. Saying we have an independent committee really isn't close to enough when (as it appears) the decision was made solely by the Chair of that committee. (I note some have been saying that the reversal was by a committee of referees--I haven't seen anything to suggest that the Chair was an experienced referee.)

 

How do we know it’s “because?”