About FIFA and Trump

I talked the City attorney for Newport Beach California yesterday. They are going to propose a DISABLED SAILING(hansasailing.com) from the Maricopa County Republicans who sent their teenagers to terrorize the city a $500,000 USD settlement for sponsoring this with a DJT sponsor. They will be forced to pay the TARIFF and install this for disabled veterans at Long Beach Veterans Hospital, I hope you support this action.

Soccer and disabled sailing eliminated from Olympic Games.

So proud of Belgium for resolving the situation 4 - 1. 👏👏👏👏 🇧🇪 👌

So pleased Belgium won 4-1, tRUmp backs losers.

Honestly, I think the team themselves felt bad about how this all worked out. USA played the worst game of their time at the world cup and it wasn't because #20 was in or out. They lost their spirit. They went from the underdogs to the people who looked like they were cheating, even though they weren't the ones doing the cheating. That Red card was a BS call. But team USA handled themselves admirably when it actually happened. But after Trump interfered, I think they knew that they would either lose on the field or lose in the court of public opinion. And Belgium winning like they did really drove that point home... People who break all the rules are toxic. I hope the people of Russia learn that lesson and kick out their Cheater in Chief, like I'm hoping USA will be able to do at after the mid-terms.

Are I a newly minted soccer fan? Hmmmnnn …. Ya know … Until recently, I have not been especially attracted to soccer. This year’s World Cup has featured many televised matches, each held at familiar North American venues that, together, are able to accommodate multitudinous fans from all over the world.   An absolutly huge foreign fan base that can easily arrange, in advance, to follow their teams in person from one huge venue to the next during the many consecutive ‘round of 32’ matches. As for myself …   All these televised matches in a row where so much excitement and energy is displayed, along with TV hosts patiently explaining the rules and wherefores of the sport for those like myself, have been totally mesmerizing! I appreciate the sport so much more now! Going back … When I was in High School in the 60’s, every year we played soccer during PE class. I only remember that it was basically a whole lotta running around chasing after a ball while getting kicked in the shins. Yeah … I went out for track in my sophomore year. Ran middle distance races and did well in the 440, 880 and Mile Relay. My Senior year coach, ‘cause of my height and long legs talked me into hurdles. Yikes! In those days, the hurdles were steel, with big metal counter weights welded to them, topped with a thin wooden slats painted white. My shins took a beating!  (And just fair to middling performance besides.) Oh… … Yeah … Please forgive my wandering here! Soccer! Ya see: Last winter I fell and … … bang! … … hit the front of my lower leg (tibia) and suffered a long, bleeding scrape down its length. I ended up with a ‘bone bruise’ and a scabby scar that took months to heal. I  was able to walk, work and get around fine during that time. But for weeks and months the pain was super intense if I bumped or even touched the spot where the bone bruise was located. The pain goes away again after a short while, but that area of the leg remains super sensitive for a period of time afterward. Now then … In PE, everyone wore Keds, Converse and similar canvas footwear.   These were relatively easy on shins! But professional soccer players wear cool looking lightweight shoes that are equipped with really nasty looking cleats! I notice that most of those fellas wear multiple layers of socks that reach near to their knees. And, when they run afoul of one another, it is not uncommon for the other guy’s cleats  to rip holes in their stockings. (Wonder, are some of those knee high socks they wear purposely made to easily rip in a dramatic fashion?) Now … I am thinking that pro soccer players, perhaps afflicted with multiple bone bruises acquired during a season, can play fine with relatively little pain, until their bone bruised shins get smacked by another player’s legs or cleats during a match. From my own recent experience, I can imagine that the pain must be absolutely excruciating when that happens. So I can really understand why these guy’s may be rolling around on the ground in very real pain.    Or, by faking it, attempt to try to convince an official that an egregious foul just occurred. Part of the game … and fans totally get it! Yeah … I believe Yellow (and Red) cards are meant to remind  teams (and perhaps certain players) that particular attention must be given to the avoidance of such encounters for the remainder of a match. And I’ll bet players really appreciate that yellow and red card rules exist to help keep overly aggressive play in check. I also have a feeling Red cards, in particular, are meant to convince individuals that they must pay more attention to their play, behavior (or both) after their ‘time out’ penalty is served. And soccer officials, no doubt having themselves experienced painflul bone bruises during their involvement in the sport, may be prone to err on the side of caution when deciding whether or not to show a card. Nevertheless … The league must ensure that their official’s integrity is held paramount. Now … Is it rare that a stadium full of soccer fans, well known for vociferous energy, would spontaneously erupt in boos and jeers the second an official with a history of bad calls steps on the pitch at the beginning of a match? Hmmmmnnnn……  If that happened at any other sport venue, like basketball, baseball or football, I believe those officials would not last long at all in their chosen profession. Am I now a ‘futbol’ fan? We’ll see … ‘ Nuf said. (Finally!) Stay Well ….

Nick Johnson, I agree. 47 tainted this World Cup game. If USA is deserving, they can play without the ringer and still win. Trial by ordeal. Some societies use that to prove honesty.

Thank you, Denys. Victory to Ukraine.

I think the red card was a legitimately bad call. If the same thing had happened to Ronaldo or Messi, I would also be calling for it to be reversed. I was glad that this one got reversed... Until Trump was involved. Now that Trump has touched it, it became political and ruined was was otherwise the correction of a bad call. Politics should never be involved in this kind of thing. Now it's just sad in both directions. It was a sad call to begin with and now a sad fix on top of it that leaves everyone unhappy.

This exact same rule was used to allow Ronaldo to play for Portugal earlier in the tournament so it's not unprecedented . What makes this call unusual is that it happened in the later rounds. However I do agree that Trump shouldn't have been involved.

Rules can change, especially in the case of the World Cup, where teams are now playing more matches to reach various levels in the competition. Here is one of those changes that may have led to the current situation. ‘Can video replay systems overturn red cards? Yes. Soccer’s video review system, known as VAR, allows officials to take a second look when a referee may have made a clear mistake on a red card. Play stops, the VAR team reviews the footage and the referee can go to a screen on the side of the field to watch the replay and change the call. New for 2026 is that now VAR can also step in when a player is wrongly sent off for a second yellow card. If the red card stands on the field, teams can still appeal to FIFA’s disciplinary committee after the match to try to get the suspension wiped from a player's record.’ The above is an excerpt from a very recent article in ‘USA Today’ concerning yellow and red card rules: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/worldcup/2026/06/10/world-cup-2026-yellow-and-red-card-rules-suspensions-explained/90097616007/ This ‘USA Today’ article brings up an important point that, according to traditional rules, a players yellow and red card ‘record’ can carry over to subsequent matches. This makes for a great deal of difficulty for teams if these traditional rules are also applied to the new 2026 format of the World Cup tournament, as explained in the article. During the ‘round of 32’, teams must play multiple matches in order to qualify for the ‘knockout round of 16’. Apparently, an important team member’s ’yellow/red’ record has more chances to ‘carry over’ to the next level given the several consecutive ‘32’ round matches played. I would guess that the USA team had immediatly requested a ‘post match’ review of the video as is now allowed by new 2026 World Cup Tournament rules.

It might be more convenient if one of the USA team's coaches played the role of the referee.

I am not with you on this one. Apparently there's a lot of racial prejudice that plays in here. I saw a commenter go through the whole thing. It did not happen on the pitch. The call came afterwards upon video review. Some well-known player Messi did something similar and did not get flagged or reviewed at all. EVERYONE knows FIFA is corrupt. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Could not agree more x

The footballer should step up to the plate and exclude himself.