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ABC Australia
How Trump tainted the World Cup and still lost
15 minutes Posted Jul 7, 2026 at 4:00 pm.
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Even an extraordinary intervention by the US president couldn’t save his soccer team, with the USA now out of the FIFA World Cup after being thrashed by Belgium. 
Donald Trump has admitted calling FIFA to urge the governing body to overturn a red card ban for the star American player Folarin Balogun. 
He was allowed to play after what FIFA insists was an independent process, but has the meddling undermined the World Cup?  
Today, sport integrity expert Catherine Ordway on what it says about the sport and what needs to change. 
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Catherine Ordway, sport integrity expert from the University of New South Wales Canberra Business School