César González

Here for Arsenal football club, more football, classic film, politics and other amusing crap.

[Sophia Cai @SophiaCai99]

FULL timeline of the campaign to bring Balogun back, according to a half dozen U.S. government & soccer officials:
- Wednesday after U.S.-Bosnia match: Andrew Giuliani alerted Trump to the red card (Trump & Giuliani had been talking multiple times/week since start of World Cup and regularly before that.)
- Wed night: Giuliani, Lutnick and U.S. Soccer officials began activating on plans to challenge red card
- That kicked off 4 days of coordinated lobbying, legal maneuvering & diplomacy that stretched from Oval Office to Zurich
- On *Thursday* Trump dialed Gianni Infantino and asked abt FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and grounds for suspension. (They’ve known each other for 8 yrs.)
- FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to POLITICO that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee.
- As U.S. Soccer’s legal team formally prepared & submitted its appeal to FIFA, Giuliani + Lutnick offered to make White House attorneys available to assist
- At the same time, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin — a hedge-fund manager who had helped pay the salary of Mauricio Pochettino — zeroed in on the officiating history of referee Raphael Claus
-Articles examining previous controversies involving Claus circulated among senior gov officials as they evaluated every argument that could bolster the appeal
- On FIFA side, Emilio García, who oversees the legal affairs of FIFA, advised Infantino on the available procedural options
- García + other FIFA officials worked to determine whether the circumstances of Balogun’s tackle met the narrow standards that would allow the disciplinary decision to be revisited
- By Sunday, FIFA announced that Balogun’s one-match suspension would be suspended
- FIFA insists that the decision was an independent one made by its 18-person disciplinary committee, but it would not say whether the decision was decided through a vote, and it has not published a report on the decision.

https://t.co/eXOOUkza6N

[Julia Ioffe @juliaioffe]

The irony of Trump calling FIFA to overturn
a red card for Balogun because he knows the U.S. can’t win without Balogun, who only qualifies for the U.S. team because of birthright citizenship, which Trump just tried to overturn.

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

The first football club to be represented at London Pride 🏳️‍🌈

Find out how our LGBTQ+ supporters' group came to be ❤️

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

🎶 Ohhh! Santi Cazorla! 🎶

Happy retirement to the little magician ✨

[Acyn @Acyn]

Mamdani: The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit.

How small they are, how weak, how unoriginal. 

At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another. Division is the oldest trick in politics, and the cheapest. But time and again-including 250 years ago-those forces of division have been vanquished by the forces of progress.

And yet today, too many of our leaders do not believe in a vision of this nation as an asylum for the persecuted-but rather as one that persecutes those seeking asylum.

As we mark 250 years, what do we see? 

We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions. We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world— one where children go to sleep hungry while the world's first trillionaire hungers for more. We see monopolies that dominate every industry and oligarchs who buy elections. We see masked agents terrorizing our streets, eating food cooked by our undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans. We see a nation whose immense wealth has been built by those with calloused, dirt-streaked hands —those who toil on factory floors and chisel into stone —and we see a nation that has allowed so much of that wealth to be held instead in the soft hands of a precious few.

[Men in Blazers @MenInBlazers]

As @rogbennett puts it, Cape Verde is one of the most valiant performances in the history of the World Cup. The world will forever remember this team, this performance. Nothing but love and respect 🇨🇻

[CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ @CBSSportsGolazo]

No one will ever forget the joy and fight you brought to the FIFA World Cup 2026 🇨🇻

Thank you, Cabo Verde ❤️

[César González @cesargonz3m]

@Bd_irB_ll Have to agree

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Pascal De Maesschalck as our new Academy Director.

Welcome to Arsenal, Pascal! 🤝

[DAZN Women's Football @DAZNWFootball]

🚨 Georgia Stanway’s next chapter begins in North London.

The England international has completed a free transfer to Arsenal following the end of her Bayern Munich contract.

[César González @cesargonz3m]

@YankeeGunner Remember that Aubameyang straight red at Palace a few years back? Kinda reminded me of that, no intent but a tough landing on the guy’s foot.

[Jill Tucker @jilltucker]

If you ever doubt how magical this world is, one day you will decide to go to a World Cup watch party in Oakland that you found online to root for a country where you spent two years trying to coax English out of the mouths of Cape Verdean teenagers. 1/7

[César González @cesargonz3m]

@MariamZemuri Andaaaaaaaa

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

@IngrahamAngle I will talk to my friends in the AlgaeBTQ+ community about these outside algaetators. I will stop it.

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

Did what he set out to do.

Your 2025/26 Player of the Season, Declan Rice 🏅

[César González @cesargonz3m]

@UKFootyBible

[César González @cesargonz3m]

@TVietor08 Wonder if he used hair dye for the paint job

[Ben Jacobs @JacobsBen]

🚨 Joint-statement from Cape Verde, Curaçao, Uzbekistan, Congo, Haiti, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire expressing their “profound disappointment” following the recent comments made by UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin arguing the expanded World Cup will create “uninteresting” games.

“We respectfully but firmly reject these comments.

“For our countries, there is no such thing as an unimportant World Cup match.

“For Cape Verde, Curaçao and Uzbekistan, qualification for the FIFA World Cup represents a historic achievement and the realization of a dream shared by generations.

“For nations such as Congo and Haiti, returning to football’s biggest stage after a long absence carries a special meaning for millions of supporters who have waited years, and in some cases decades, for this moment.

“To suggest that these matches are somehow less important is deeply disappointing and fails to recognize the efforts, sacrifices and aspirations of players, coaches, clubs, football leaders and supporters across the world.

“Behind every qualification stand years of work and investment. Behind every national team stand entire communities and millions of people who see football as a source of pride, hope and unity.

“Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality. The FIFA World Cup is the world’s greatest football competition precisely because it brings together different cultures, different histories and different football journeys.

“For many countries, participation in the FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting achievement. It is a moment that inspires a generation, accelerates football development and creates memories that last a lifetime.

“We believe that every nation that qualifies deserves respect. Every team has earned its place on merit. Every supporter has the right to dream. Every match carries meaning for millions of people around the world.

“We therefore reject the UEFA President’s comments and reaffirm our belief that the growth of football must continue to create opportunities, inspire new generations and strengthen the truly global nature of our game.

“Every team qualified on merit.

“Every match matters.”