FC Vermont-Champlain

TRUMP AND THE RED CARD

The would-be tyrant, President Donald Trump, has something in common with the Roman Emperors, Nero and Caligula. As Trump has directly intervened to reverse the red card suspension for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun. After a phone call between Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee suspended the one-game ban. This allowed Balogun to play in the US team's World Cup match against Belgium. Thus, the direct manipulation by the American President has
degraded the ethical Fair Play code of the World Cup. Such political abuse is not a rare thing in history. In 67 A.D. at the Olympic Games, Nero entered the four-horse chariot race in which he drove an unprecedented ten-horse team. Nero fell out of his chariot and failed to finish. The judges still declared him the winner, claiming he would have won if he had finished the race. It is easy to see why the Olympic judges felt the need to grant Nero as an Olympic winner, as they were cowardly in upholding the Olympic virtues of that era in history. The Emperor Caligula, although not participating in the Olympic Games, had his own obsession and dark manipulation with sport in his time. Caligula had his own chariot team and was obsessed with the Green racing faction. Ancient historians claimed that Caligula spent nights in the stables and sometimes poisoned rival drivers, but his racing took place in the Roman circus, not the Olympic games in Greece. Like Nero, the mentally ill Caligula was also able to have his way regarding the manipulation of a sport venue.

Both Roman Emperors would come to an untimely ending. Nero would commit su***de., however he did not die by the Guard's swords. Instead, he ran out of political allies. The Guard abandoned him in exchange for bribes. The Senate then declared him an enemy of the state. Nero fled to a country house outside Rome where he committed su***de, but was so cowardly that it was only with the help of his personal secretary that he was able to do the deed. However, it was the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's elite bodyguards) that killed Caligula. Caligula treated his guards very badly. Caligula was known to mock the Praetorian Guards and to significantly reduce their pay. Guardsmen, led by a man named Cassius Chaerea, stabbed Caligula repeatedly to death at a theater event. Donald Trump never learned to be aware of the historical company he kept.

Luis Lázaro Tijerina, 07/06/2026

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