US President Donald Trump has influenced a major FIFA rule change this week, which comes in the wake of Gianni Infantino's apology to his committee following his disastrous plans to sell stakes in the World Cup.

The duo have struck a close friendship, which gained momentum when Infantino awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025 - a syocphantic gesture that raised plenty of eyebrows.

Their relationship continued to blossom in the buildup to the World Cup, but the controversy surrounding their ties came to a head when the White House resident lobbied for USA star Folarin Balogun's red card to be rescinded in the Round of 32.

That episode marked a particularly low point, but FIFA has since taken retrospective action, with the governing body coming under increasing pressure to prove its current leadership is fit for purpose ahead of March's re-election process.

Donald Trump's Influence on Major FIFA Rule Change

According to the Daily Express, FIFA chiefs are planning to rewrite the World Cup disciplinary rules to prevent another Folarin Balogun scandal.

The striker was controversially sent off during the USA’s round-of-32 tie against Bosnia & Herzegovina, sparking calls for the decision to be rescinded. While there are no direct appeal laws for red cards at the World Cup, that didn’t stop President Trump from - in his own words - ‘taking care of it’.

Fast-forward three months, and today, FIFA are moving to prevent similar fallout from clouding the tournament in the future. The new rules will explicitly state that an automatic ban is required for any red card unless the wrong player was sent off.

And in a document briefing the change, FIFA bosses said: “There was never a doubt nor lack of clarity on how the automatic suspension following a red card is to be served. This is a way for FIFA to cure the handling of the Balogun case during the World Cup."

Infantino Has Finally Apologised For World Cup Sell-Off Plans

The rule change also falls on the same week it has come to light that Infantino has apologised to his FIFA Council for his World Cup sell-off plan. The caveat it that he has still been told he is not fit to lead unless he releases all the documents and answers key questions.

The FIFA Council met in Zurich on Thursday for the first time since Infantino's secret FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal emerged.

Under FFE, which Infantino scrapped within days, a portion of the commercial rights of football's world governing body would have been given to a private investment firm.

Hours later, FIFA released a video statement from Infantino. He had declined to speak to or take questions from the media, including the BBC. He said:

Infantino said he would answer questions in writing "in due course" following what he said had been a "constructive discussion" with "different opinions and points of view".

English FA chair Debbie Hewitt - a FIFA vice-president - said afterwards that many questions remained unanswered despite the "most robust, most frank, most open Council meeting" she had experienced.

"One of the disappointing things is that we didn't get answers to anything that we had specifically requested - for example, getting the papers from FFE," Hewitt said.

"I asked the question 'why not?' - and we were asked to submit those questions in writing. I think the man has to answer those questions and if he doesn't answer those questions now, he's not fit to be Fifa president - and that was what was shared in the meeting."