New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is playing coy about the red card reversal heard ‘round the world.
Instead of directly addressing the revocation of USMNT striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension, the soccer-loving mayor posted a clip on X on Monday featuring a quote from José Mourinho, the legendary Portuguese soccer manager.
“I prefer really not to speak. If I speak — big trouble, big trouble. I don’t want to be in big trouble,” Mourinho said in the iconic 2014 clip shared by Mamdani in response to a post from a POLITICO reporter remarking that the mayor had yet to comment on the unfolding Balogun controversy.
In an interview on Univision’s New York affiliate filmed Monday morning, Mamdani called it “cruel” for the referee to have hit Balogun with a red card in last week’s game between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the U.S. men’s national team tonight. I think beyond that, I’ll have to quote José Mourinho who said, ‘I prefer not to speak, if I speak I get in trouble,’” Mamdani added, according to a transcript of the interview shared by his office with POLITICO ahead of airing Monday evening.
The issue is fraught for Mamdani for two reasons.
Mamdani, an avid soccer fan born in Uganda, has said he’s rooting for the U.S. in the 2026 World Cup. It’d thereby be awkward for him to take issue with the U.S. star striker being cleared to play in Monday night’s round of 16 showdown against Belgium.
Separately, despite being a democratic socialist, Mamdani has enjoyed a surprisingly cordial relationship with President Donald Trump. He has sought to use that relationship to leverage material benefits for New York City, such as greater federal investment in local housing developments.
If he goes after Trump for his role in overturning Balogun’s suspension, Mamdani would run the risk of angering the mercurial president.
FIFA shocked the soccer universe Sunday when it announced it had scrapped Balogun’s mandatory one-game suspension because of the red card. After the announcement, it was revealed FIFA made the highly unusual reversal after Trump privately asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the one-game suspension for Balogun, raising concerns about inappropriate political pressure.
On Monday morning, Belgium’s soccer federation said it was formally challenging the Balogun suspension reversal — but FIFA ruled the Belgian appeal to be inadmissable.
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. in Seattle.
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