President Trump claimed Monday that he asked FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino to review US striker Folarin Balogun’s red card, which would have kept him out of a crucial match against Belgium — admitting that “I didn’t think it was a foul.”
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“I didn’t tell him what to do,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “I can’t tell him what to do, but — and I don’t believe he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision — because number one, it wasn’t a foul, and you want to see a game with your best players.”
FIFA shocked the world Sunday by announcing that Balogun’s one-match ban, typically an automatic consequence of any red card, would be suspended for up to one year. “I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul, and you know, again, I’m good at this stuff,” Trump said. “I didn’t think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”
The Brooklyn-born Balogun, who plays professionally for AS Monaco in the French league, was sent off by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus in the second half of the USA’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 July 1.
“If you would have taken him out, I think it would have really stained this incredible game,” the president added. “We got to have our best players, and they’ve got — Belgium’s got a great team, by the way. We have our best players, and they have to have their best.”
