FIFA Council Members Push for Emergency Meeting Over Balogun Suspension Decision

Members of the FIFA Council are attempting to force an extraordinary general meeting that could develop into a leadership challenge against Gianni Infantino. The moves were already under way before reports of Infantino's plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, with council members demanding an independent review into the decision to lift Folarin Balogun's suspension during the World Cup — a decision that reportedly involved multiple phone calls from Donald Trump. A formal leadership challenge against a sitting FIFA president would be unprecedented in the modern era, and the involvement of a sitting US president in overturning a player suspension raises serious questions about political interference in global football governance.