Donald Trump said on Monday that he personally asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the red card shown to USA striker Folarin Balogun, marking the first public acknowledgment of his intervention. The US president insisted he did not pressure football’s governing body to overturn the suspension, telling reporters in the Oval Office: “All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul. I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do.”
The red card was issued by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus during the USA’s 2-0 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 32 last Wednesday. Fifa suspended Balogun’s automatic one-match ban on Sunday, despite officials previously saying the sanction could not be appealed under the governing body’s disciplinary code. Sources told the Guardian that Trump made three calls to Fifa beginning on Wednesday in an effort to secure the reversal.
“Trump confirms he personally asked Fifa president Infantino to review Balogun's red card, insisting he did not pressure Fifa.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump said of the challenge. “That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.” He described Claus as “very suspect” and suggested reporters examine the official’s record. Trump added: “We’re going to have a full team, and Belgium is going to have a full team, and you know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud. The other way, if they beat us ... I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020.”
The intervention by the president of a World Cup host nation thrust Fifa’s disciplinary process into the spotlight and prompted an angry response from Belgium, who face the USA on Monday night for a place in the quarter-finals. Uefa, the European game’s governing body, issued a furious statement accusing Fifa of crossing “a red line” by making an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” decision to rescind the ban, which it claimed undermined “the integrity of the game and the credibility of the competition”.
The former Football Association chairman David Bernstein was asked about the decision to suspend the ruling, but his comments were not disclosed. The controversy threatens to overshadow the knockout clash, with Trump’s repeated claims of a rigged outcome raising questions about the fairness of the tournament.