India, July 6 -- Donald Trump has been noticeably absent from the FIFA World Cup. The US President has not attended a single match-not even the USA's opener last month-and had not mentioned the USMNT in any of his social media posts despite their impressive run to the Round of 16. Yet on Sunday, reports emerged suggesting Trump had quietly influenced one of the tournament's biggest controversies behind the scenes.

"Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice!" Trump wrote on Truth Social after football's governing body took the unprecedented step of overturning Folarin Balogun's automatic one-match suspension, making the striker available for Monday's Round of 16 clash against Belgium.

The incident occurre...