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Soccer leaders questioned the World Cup' s integrity on a chaotic and unprecedented day in the event's modern history Monday. The furor centered on a phone call that President Donald Trump made last week to FIFA head Gianni Infantino to make the case that U.S. striker Folarin Balogun should not have been suspended for matchup with Belgium because of a red card in a game last week. FIFA lifted the suspension and cleared Balogun to play. The decision appeared to be the first time since 1962 that punishment for a World Cup offense was suspended in the tournament, increasing scrutiny on Infantino's control of FIFA and his close association with Trump. European soccer body UEFA said FIFA "crossed a red line" and called Sunday's decision by FIFA's disciplinary committee "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable." Infantino denied having a role in the decision. Trump called it a "horrible" call and took credit for getting FIFA to review the foul, but said he did not demand an ...
The eight teams playing World Cup matches on Thursday are taking part in an International Day for Countering Hate Speech commemoration, with a pre-match exchange of pennants denouncing such language. Captains involved in the Czechia-South Africa, Mexico-South Korea, Switzerland-Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada-Qatar matches will have pennants reading "We Play Together. We Stand Against Hate" with the wording in English on one side and the teams' native language on the other. FIFA says it has deleted more than 30 million abusive posts and comments since its social media protection service was created before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA says it deleted nearly 400,000 negative or abusive posts in the first few days of this World Cup - more than it did in the entirety of the 2022 event. Other stadium activations involving that message are planned during Thursday's matches.
FIFA on Friday blamed the empty seats during the World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara on fans who watched from the concourses. There were many visible empty spots at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, with sections in the middle of the stands showing many unoccupied spaces and with other empty seats scattered around the venue. The announced attendance was 44,985 - including FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match," FIFA said, adding that it works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data. "Please note that, during last night's match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout t
Members of Iran's World Cup soccer team have been granted visas to the United States, two U.S. officials said, clearing them to enter the United States from their training base in Tijuana, Mexico, ahead of their first two matches near Los Angeles this month. The team's participation in the World Cup has been complicated by Iran's war with Israel and the United States. Problems with processing visas had earlier led Iran to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, on Mexico's border with California. One U.S. official said all players on the Iranian team were approved for visas and were in the process of receiving them. A second official said visas had been issued for players, coaches, trainers and some support staff. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the visas publicly. The second official could not say if any Iranian applicants had been denied. It was not immediately clear when the Iranian team's passports would