US vs Soccer Rules

I am not an avid soccer fan. My heart forever belongs to volleyball. But I do get the news from the World Cup now, mostly because my son follows it closely and because there are societal, cultural, and political implications of this unprecedented North American experience.

Yesterday, my son told me about the incident with the red card for a US team player and Trump fixing it through a phone call to FIFA. My first reaction was, "This is blatant and brazen corruption!" My son fully agreed.

We talked about what it might mean and how the US team should handle it. My son said that the most honest and sportsman like, noble thing to do would be for Balogun to refuse to play, honoring the red card. We also agreed that the decision should be fully backed by his team and its managers, who should issue an official statement about it as well.

And today, I came across the opinion below by a very prominent Russian-language NYC-based blogger Denis Saklakov, who not only expressed clearly and precisely what this political interference means for the game and the world, but also provided a broader historical and civilizational context for it.

I have asked MAIK to translate it faithfully, preserving the author's style and escalating rhetoric on purpose. I have edited it lightly, fixing some of the obvious idiomatic and contextual slip-ups of the Russian to English translation that MAIK has missed. You may agree or disagree with Saklakov's assessment of Trump as a fascist but his explanation of all the implications from this blatant power interference is clear and convincing:

My father was a soccer player at his university and later on amateur teams, and my son has played for various teams, but it so happened that I have no interest in soccer. Nevertheless, this soccer news matters to me and, I believe, to all of us.

A player on the U.S. national team at the World Cup, Folarin Balogun, received a red card in the U.S. vs Bosnia match. In a normal rule-based competition, that means missing the next match.

Then the scandal began.

According to press reports, Trump called Gianni Infantino of FIFA, who has been bought and rented out by Moscow by the hour.

Those familiar with Kabbalistic metaphysics know that this is a clear example of the "bread of shame," a very dangerous thing for the punished player himself, unless, of course, he refuses to play in the next match. But he is a purchased mercenary, so he won't refuse.

Now everything is in the hands of the management of the American team, which, I suspect, is thoroughly saturated with Ku Klux Klansmen, i.e. Trump's appointees.

As a result, the White House achieved a reversal of the decision, FIFA has placed the suspension on a one-year hold, and Balogun has been given the opportunity to play against Belgium.

UEFA has already called this decision unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustified, while the Belgians have declared that FIFA has crossed the red line of fair play.

Now the question is no longer about Balogun. He is, in fact, only a secondary character here.

The real question is what the American team will do after being handed a gift from the fascist Trump.

A gift earned not with feet on the field, not through fair play, not through struggle, but through a phone call from political power into the office of soccer's highest official.

The American team must refuse. Openly. Publicly. Without theatrics and without legal fog.

Keeping Balogun on the bench is no longer enough. It means the gift is still accepted, merely wrapped in more respectable packaging.

Putting him on the field would be much worse.

The coach's tactical decision would become a signature beneath an act of capitulation.

Now everything is in the hands of the Belgians, who have many possible moves with which to respond to this fascist act, a perfect distillation of all the filth of the current American administration.

The analogy with Kyiv is obvious.

In 1942, in Nazi-occupied Kyiv, FC Start, a team assembled largely from former players of Dynamo Kyiv and Lokomotyv Kyiv, played against the German Flakelf and won 5–3. [Several players were executed after the match].

The later Soviet legend surrounding the "Death Match" remains disputed in its details, but the symbol has remained true: a playing field under the rule of an occupier becomes a test of whether a person is prepared to submit to power when the power demands that he does so.

Today, the U.S. national team faces not a sporting test, but a civilizational one.

This is about civilization resisting the ape-like instinct of brute force, the leader, and the pack.

Trump has done what fascists do: he tried to bend the rules simply because the rules stood in the way of "his" team. Now the team must demonstrate whether it has a backbone.

There is only one correct course of action: Refuse to use Balogun in this match at all.

Not hide him on the bench.

Not leave him as an option.

Not keep him as a secret advantage.

Declare that the team rejects the gift of political power and takes the field without the player who, by the very meaning of a red card, should have been suspended.

If Balogun takes the field, then it will be possible to say plainly: The Americans have fallen.

America as a state has long been falling under Trump, but then the last decorative illusion of sporting integrity, of rules, of the belief that Americans can resist in the face of obvious corruption, will collapse as well.

Want to know whether Americans will be able to break fascism in November?

Don't watch the election only.

Watch this match.

Watch whether the team accepts the fascist's gift.

The American team may leave him on the bench, but the right step is to refuse his participation altogether.

Yes, everything Trump touches turns to shit, but failing to respond is not an option. It will end badly for everyone.

Watch whether American society accepts the fascist's gift.

The battlefield against evil is here and now.

This is exactly how fascism wins: Everyone knows the rule. Everyone understands the violation. And then someone walks onto the field and pretends that the game is still being played fairly.

Denis Saklakov, NYC blogger

To conclude, here's today's cartoon from Ann Telnaes. Her toons are always worth a thousand words. I got it from her Substack, and I highly recommend subscribing to her: