{"id":528328,"date":"2026-07-06T19:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/528328\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T19:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:12:07","slug":"trump-confirms-he-asked-infantino-for-review-of-folarin-balogun-red-card-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/528328\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump confirms he asked Infantino for review of Folarin Balogun red card | USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump said on Monday that he personally asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the red card<\/a> shown to USA striker Folarin Balogun, saying he believed the dismissal was unfair but insisting he did not pressure football\u2019s governing body to overturn the suspension.<\/p>\n

The intervention by the president of a World Cup host nation has thrust Fifa\u2019s disciplinary process into the spotlight and prompted an angry response<\/a> from Belgium, who face the USA on Monday night for a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

Uefa, the European game\u2019s governing body, also issued a furious statement, accusing Fifa of crossing \u201ca red line\u201d by making an \u201cincomprehensible and unjustifiable\u201d decision to rescind Balogun\u2019s automatic one-match ban, which it claimed undermined \u201cthe integrity of the game and the credibility of the competition\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remarks were his first public acknowledgment that he had personally intervened after Balogun was sent off in the USA\u2019s 2-0 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a> last Wednesday in the last 32. Fifa had suspended the striker\u2019s automatic one-match ban on Sunday despite officials previously saying the sanction could not be appealed<\/a> under the governing body\u2019s disciplinary code.<\/p>\n

Sources told the Guardian that Trump made three calls to Fifa beginning on Wednesday in an effort to secure the reversal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I did was ask for a review because I didn\u2019t think it was a foul,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. \u201cI didn\u2019t tell him what to do. I can\u2019t tell him what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remarks marked the first time either the White House or the president had publicly confirmed the outreach to Fifa.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump repeatedly said Balogun\u2019s challenge should never have resulted in a dismissal. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I saw the play, and I\u2019m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete. I understand sports really well. Really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t a foul. That wasn\u2019t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other. You can\u2019t take your foot and properly place it on somebody else\u2019s foot when you\u2019re going full speed. These were two great athletes that got tangled up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he punched him in the face, if he did something wrong, I\u2019d feel differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump added: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a full team, and Belgium<\/a> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described the Brazilian referee Raphael Claus as \u201cvery suspect\u201d and said the official had made \u201ca call that nobody could believe\u201d. He also suggested reporters examine Claus\u2019s record, without elaborating.<\/p>\n

Trump said he only learned after the match that a straight red card carried an automatic suspension. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to penalize somebody for the game,\u201d he said. \u201cBut how do you penalize them for a game that hasn\u2019t been played yet? It\u2019s very unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he believed Balogun\u2019s absence would have diminished the tournament and praised Fifa\u2019s eventual decision to restore the striker\u2019s eligibility. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to have our best players and they have to have their best,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIf we win or we lose, it\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald Trump holds up a red card during a meeting with Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC on 28 August 2018. Photograph: Evan Vucci\/AP<\/p>\n

Trump also sought to distance Infantino from the decision. \u201cI don\u2019t believe he made the decision,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI think it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision because, number one, it wasn\u2019t a foul.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement issued after Trump\u2019s remarks, Infantino confirmed that he had received a call from the US president but said he told Trump the matter was before Fifa\u2019s independent disciplinary bodies.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifa\u2019s judicial bodies are independent,\u201d Infantino said. \u201cThey operate autonomously, apply the Fifa disciplinary code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that while he sometimes agreed and sometimes disagreed with disciplinary decisions, he \u201calways\u201d respected the autonomy of the bodies that made them.<\/p>\n

Neither Trump nor Fifa explained the legal basis on which Balogun\u2019s suspension was lifted.<\/p>\n

Fifa announced on Sunday that Balogun\u2019s ban had been lifted for a 12-month probationary period, another unprecedented decision during a tournament which was explained by a brief reference to Article 27 of Fifa\u2019s disciplinary code, which gives its judicial committee the authority to \u201cfully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uefa claimed that the world governing body had ignored their own rulebook for political reasons. \u201cFootball, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition,\u201d read a statement. \u201cSometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) expressed its own \u201castonishment\u201d at the decision, with national team manager Rudi Garcia comparing it to an April Fools\u2019 Day joke. Their appeal was rejected by Fifa\u2019s appeals committee on the grounds that it was \u201cnot a party to proceedings\u201d.<\/p>\n

The RBFA has also received strong support from some of their European counterparts.<\/p>\n

The German Football Association (DFB) questioned whether the outcome was the result of political interference, and said that Fifa\u2019s credibility was at stake. \u201cThe impression that there has been active political interference in sport must be dispelled swiftly and conclusively,\u201d read a statement. \u201cThe integrity of the competition and the credibility of Fifa are at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), said it shared Uefa\u2019s \u201cserious concern\u201d, adding: \u201cThis is about more than tonight\u2019s Round of 16 match between the United States and Belgium. It is about the integrity of football as a whole and the protection of the fundamental principles of fair play, both at the Fifa World Cup<\/a> and across the world\u2019s biggest sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Football Association declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian, but England manager Thomas Tuchel criticised the decision following his side\u2019s thrilling 3-2 win over Mexico that secured their place in the last-16, where they will meet Norway in Miami on Saturday. \u201cWhere does it end now?\u201d he said. \u201cDo we appeal if a yellow card is not a yellow card? Do we think it\u2019s not a red card or who thinks so? Where does it start and where does it end? I don\u2019t have an answer. It\u2019s just strange for me. We just want to have consistency in the decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s involvement first emerged after he publicly thanked Fifa for \u201creversing a great injustice\u201d on Sunday afternoon. The White House official X account then responded to Trump\u2019s post by writing: \u201cUSA-USA-USA\u201d next to an image of a bald eagle.<\/p>\n

The close relationship between Trump and Infantino, has been a recurring theme of the World Cup and the buildup to the tournament, most notably when the former was awarded the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize at the World Cup draw in Washington DC last December. While Fifa has used that relationship to secure some tax exemptions for competing teams from the US government, it has not everything it wanted from the Trump administration and suffered some major embarrassments, such as the host\u2019s treatment of the Iran national team and refusal to grant a visa to the Somali referee, Omar Artan, on national security grounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Infantino\u2019s predecessor, Sepp Blatter, who resigned in disgrace following FBI raids on Fifa\u2019s headquarters in 2015 and was subsequently banned from football<\/a>, was another to criticise Trump\u2019s role in the process. \u201cRed cards are not overturned by political phone calls,\u201d Blatter wrote on X. \u201cThey are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies. If a US president intervenes with the Fifa president \u2013 and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match \u2013 the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis [where are you going], Fifa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the Fifa Council, the global governing body\u2019s decision making arm, also expressed deep surprise over the shelving of Balogun\u2019s suspension and its circumstances.<\/p>\n

Several European politicians took a similar stance, with Belgian foreign minister Maxime Pr\u00e9vot accused Fifa of violating the rules of football. \u201cAs a former football referee, I have always been committed to upholding the rules and ensuring decisions are fair,\u201d Pr\u00e9vot told Politico. \u201cThis decision clearly raises many questions. If a phone call is really the reason for this incomprehensible decision, it would be a blatant violation of the most basic rules of football and sport\u201d.<\/p>\n

Earlier Monday, Republican senator Ted Cruz publicly thanked Trump for Balogun\u2019s reinstatement during the Oval Office event organized to launch the administration\u2019s new \u201cTrump accounts\u201d savings program for children.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,\u201d the Texas Republican said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was interesting,\u201d Trump replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was spectacular,\u201d Cruz continued. \u201cThere was a reason the Fifa trophy sat here for as long as it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said he had spoken with Infantino after watching England\u2019s victory against Mexico<\/a> on Sunday night, which he described as evidence of the tournament\u2019s popularity in the US. \u201cEach one is turning out to be a Super Bowl,\u201d Trump said of the World Cup matches.<\/p>\n

Trump also singled out the England captain, Harry Kane<\/a>, for praise. \u201cI don\u2019t know the players, although I think Kane is a great player,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI played golf with him and I like him a lot. He\u2019s a good golfer. But he\u2019s really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balogun\u2019s availability is a major boost for the USA side. The 25-year-old is the team\u2019s leading scorer at the tournament and opened the scoring against Bosnia and Herzegovina before being sent off after 64 minutes.<\/p>\n

Nick Ames contributed additional reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump said on Monday that he personally asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the red card…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-528328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}