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Speaker 1: I am Jamie Rudd and here is what is happening

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in football right now. It is a slow Friday. The

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World Cup ended five days ago. Most players are on holiday.

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The transfer window is open, but nothing explosive is happening today.

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And yet the biggest story in football is still about

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a red card from three weeks ago. The president of

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the Norwegian Football Federation, Lisa Claverness, is filing a formal

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ethics complaint with FIFA over the foller In Belogan red

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card reversal. And this is not a petty grievance. This

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is a serious accusation that the President of the United

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States interfered in a World Cup disciplinary decision. Here is

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what happened. Balogan got a red card against Bosnia in

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the round of thirty two for stepping on a player's ankle.

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He was suspended for one game. Then Donald Trump called

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Gianni Infantino. Then FIFA overturned the suspension. Then Belogan played

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against Belgium in the round of sixteen. Then the United

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States lost four goals to one. Clavern has told The

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Times of London that the verdict was influenced by external forces.

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She said, and I quote, we all know that this

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verdict was influenced from external forces and did not have

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the proper process. She also pointed out that the decision

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was made by one person, Mohammad al Kamali, the chair

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of FIFA's Disciplinary Committee, with no panel review. One person,

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under pressure from the President of the United States overturned

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a red card suspension. She also said something that should

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worry every football fan. When you bend a rule like this,

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you are on a slippery slope that will put the

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whole game at risk. If you start to adapt in

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such a way towards state leaders and state politics, you

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will move the red line of what state leaders should

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interfere with. And that happened. She is right. This is

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not about This is not about whether the red card

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was harsh. This is about whether FIFA can be trusted

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to enforce its own rules when a world leader makes

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a phone call. And the answer based on this incident

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is no, FIFA cannot be trusted. Meanwhile, Megan Rapino went

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on The Daily Show and said Trump killed the US

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team's underdog vibe. She said they had a good thing going.

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Everyone loved the underdog story, and then Trump got involved

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and everyone was like, nope, no, we do not like it.

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She even joked that Belgium were motivated by it quote

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Obviously Belgium was like, no, we absolutely cannot lose to

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this team now. Rapino also said on her podcast that

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the distraction got to the team, whether it was the

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red card situation, whether it was being in public discourse

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with this president, all of the shenanigans and chaos. She

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said the men's team does not have a core of

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older players who are used to that kind of pressure,

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and she is right. This US team is young. They

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are not used to being political props, and when the

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president turns your football match into a culture war, it

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affects the players. It has to Now Barcelona they have

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signed Anthony Gordon from Newcastle for seventy million euros up

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to eighty million with add ons. This was confirmed back

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in May, but it is worth revisiting because the deal

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structure is genuinely fascinating. Newcastle get a five million euro

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bonus if Gordon wins a trophy at Camp No, and

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they get one million euros per season if he plays

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sixty percent or more of games. So Barcelona are incentivized

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to play him and Newcastle are incentivized to hope Barcelona

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wins something. It is a transfer fee and a betting

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slip combined. Gordon showed up at his unveiling, speaking Spanish,

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committed to the bit, practiced his lines, probably had a

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tutor for three weeks, and good for him. Most English

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players move to Spain and do not bother learning the

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language until their third season. Gordon is doing it on

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day one. But Barcelona are not done. They are still

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chasing Darwin Nunez from Saudi Arabia, whole, An Alvarez from

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Atletico Madrid and Amrik Laporte. Atletico's president Enrica Cerezo says

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Alvarez is staying, Nunez is dreaming of Barcelona from his

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Saudi villa, and reaujamats Poletic club's manager Edin Terzich has

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publicly called Barcelona disrespectful for their pursuit of Laporte. This

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is either a master plan or complete chaos. With Barcelona,

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it is usually both. Nicholas Ottomendi has retired from international football.

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The Argentine defender who played in the World Cup final

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five days ago, has called time on his Albi Celeste career.

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He is thirty eight years old. He has won a

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World Cup, a Copra America and an Olympic gold medal,

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and his last act in an Argentina shirt was watching

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Enzo Fernandez get sent off in the third minute of

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stoppage time against Spain. Not the ending anyone wanted for him,

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but he was a warrior for Argentina for over a

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decade and he deserves whatever retirement brings him. One last thing.

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The Europa League qualifiers are underway and there was a

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genuine shock yesterday Benfica, the Portuguese Giants, lost two goals

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to one against Saint Gallen from Switzerland. Saint Gallen are

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not a big club, they are not famous and they

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just beat Benfica in European competition. Meanwhile, Ferrenz Varros from

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Hungary beat FC Twente from the Netherlands. The new European

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season is quietly starting while everyone still arguing about Trump

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and red cards. Quick note. This show is produced with

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the help of AI