The President of the United States intervened in a FIFA suspension dispute so an American soccer player could compete in a World Cup match. Not a trade deal. Not a hostage negotiation. A red card appeal.
Trump asked FIFA to review Folarin Balogun's suspension before the Belgium game. FIFA said yes. Balogun played. The executive branch of the world's largest economy now handles sports eligibility rulings the same way your mom called the principal to get you out of detention.
Imagine being the FIFA official who took that call. You wake up Monday morning expecting to process paperwork about grass length regulations and suddenly you're on the phone with the White House explaining yellow card accumulation rules to someone who thinks offsides is a type of bond trade.
Retail traders saw this headline and immediately started scanning for the ETF play. "If Trump can reverse a FIFA ruling, what does this mean for my leveraged soccer futures position?" Nothing, Derek. It means nothing. You don't have a soccer futures position. You have seventeen shares of a bankrupt streaming company you bought because someone on Reddit said it was going to the moon.
The best part is Balogun was "surprisingly cleared" as if FIFA independently reconsidered their decision right after the President of the United States asked them to reconsider their decision. What a coincidence. Totally unrelated events happening in perfect sequence like your portfolio dropping exactly when you click buy.
Now every suspended athlete in America is workshopping their presidential appeal. "Dear Mr. President, I got ejected from my rec league softball game for arguing with the ump. I believe this violates the Geneva Convention."
Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash
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