We live in strange times indeed when Sepp Blatter, the former head of Fifa, is able to cast himself as a guardian of clean governance.
Yet here we are, thanks to President Donald Trump and his brazen involvement in the case of US striker Folarin Balogun.
Mr Blatter, whose time at Fifa is widely associated with the corruption scandals that rocked football's top governing body, on Monday criticised Mr Trump's decision to intervene on behalf of Balogun, who had faced a one-match ban after he was sent off for a hard tackle against a Bosnian defender last week.
Brazilian referee Raphael Claus pulled out the red card after a video review showed the Monaco striker making heavy contact with Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic's ankle.
Practically every football match has decisions that could or should have gone a different way. Love it or hate it, that is part of the game.
Mr Trump, however, decided it was time to rewrite history. He called up his friend Gianni Infantino, the current head of Fifa, and asked for a do-over.
"I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul," he said, before admitting he knows almost nothing about football, telling reporters in the Oval Office he "didn't know what the hell a red card was".
Not understanding the rules appears to be no obstacle to rewriting them. For good measure, Mr Trump then attacked the referee, suggesting he had a chequered history.
He “is a little bit suspect, if you check his past”, Mr Trump said without providing evidence. “I don't want to say that, because I don't like to create controversy, but very suspect.”
Shortly after the phone call, Fifa rescinded the one-match ban and Balogun was free to play against Belgium on Monday.
Mr Blatter, who was Fifa president from 1998 to 2015, said red cards must not be overturned by political phone calls.
"They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies," he posted on X.
"If a US President intervenes with the Fifa president – and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match – the question is unavoidable: quo vadis, Fifa? Football must never become a playground for political power."
Mr Blatter was never convicted of corruption but was banned from football for years. It was under his leadership that the US Department of Justice in 2015 described corruption at Fifa as "rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States".
Fifa's decisions to award the World Cup tournament to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 were both mired in controversy. This makes Mr Blatter's criticism of Mr Trump even more remarkable.
Mr Trump tried to downplay his call as no big deal, but Republican Senator Ted Cruz undermined this by awkwardly thanking Mr Trump for his intervention.
“On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card … it was spectacular,” Mr Cruz said to an uncomfortable-looking Mr Trump.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also tried to inject humour into the affair, telling reporters he might bring it up at this week's Nato summit in Ankara.
"Maybe we'll bring it up at Nato tomorrow over there with the Belgians and everybody else," Mr Rubio said with a smile.
Given Mr Trump's shaky commitment to Nato's Article 5 mutual defence pact, I doubt the Europeans would show much sympathy.
Mr Infantino issued a statement on X, saying he regularly discusses matters related to the World Cup with Mr Trump. He stressed that Fifa's Disciplinary Committee operates autonomously.
“I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues,” the Fifa chief said.
Another twist to the situation is that Balogun is American only by chance. His mother, who was seven months pregnant, was not allowed to board a flight back to the UK at the end of a visit to the US, resulting in his being born in New York and thus automatically becoming a citizen by birthright.
If Mr Trump had prevailed at the Supreme Court in his attempt to overturn the constitutional amendment granting birthright citizenship, people in circumstances like Balogun's would no longer be considered Americans.
The incident was a needless intervention by Mr Trump that has spoilt an otherwise positive World Cup, where the mood in all three host countries has been jubilant for the most part.
Mr Trump's failure to accept an outcome he didn't like is hardly new. But this time he appears to have united many football fans overseas against Team USA, hurting the country's image for the sake of a phone call that should never have happened.
If Belgium beat the US on Monday, Mr Trump said, "I'll say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020."
