Donald Trump made interesting claims about the referee who sent off Folarin Balogun and revealed his involvement in the decision to suspend him
US President Donald Trump shared Folarin Balogun’s new red card verdict (Image: (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images))
US President Donald Trump has admitted that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino following Folarin Balogun’s red card during the USMNT’s World Cup win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. But he was quick to say he had no influence on the final decision.
“All I did was ask for review. I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this.’ (I) didn’t think it was a foul. (It was) two guys running at full speed that just happened to collide,” Trump said.
“I did not tell him (Mr Infantino) what to do. I cannot tell him what to do,” he said, adding that the independent commission “made the right decision”.
President Trump also described the referee as a “little suspect” and encouraged journalists to “look into his past.”
He later admitted that he did not know that Balogun’s red card would result in him being suspended for the quarter-final match against Belgium.
“A very important player. And they gave him a red card. I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t think it meant much,” he said.
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“Then I started hearing that it meant he couldn’t play in the next game, at least the next game. I was like, that’s a big thing, look, if it happened to any other player, it would be unfair, but when they take your best player, or a player close to it, they have some great players, and then they say you can’t play, that’s very unfair.”
“It’s, you know, it’s one thing to give someone a penalty in that game. But how do you give someone a penalty in a game that hasn’t been played yet? That’s very unfair. You can’t do that.”
FIFA’s independent committee subsequently reviewed the decision and found it to be a mistake, resulting in Balogun being suspended for one year.
Folarin Balogun has been suspended for one year.
This unusual turn of events understandably infuriated Belgium, causing it to issue several statements. The latest of these further condemned the decision and vowed to fight it.
The statement read in part: “To be clear, at this time the RBFA has not received any decision or explanation from FIFA on this matter. Therefore, the RBFA has no choice but to contest the player’s eligibility for the upcoming matches.”
“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned about the developments and will continue to fight in the hours, days and months ahead to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition and the interests of football as a whole.”
The pair are scheduled to face each other in the early hours of Tuesday morning UK time.
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