President Donald Trump has confirmed he asked FIFA to review the one-match suspension given to United States striker Folarin Balogun at the World Cup. Balogun, 25, had been due to miss the last-16 match against Belgium after receiving a straight red for a challenge on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round.
FIFA surprised many by suspending the automatic one-match ban for 12 months, which made Balogun – who has scored three goals at this tournament – available for selection in the Seattle fixture. Speaking at the White House, Trump said he had raised the incident with FIFA because he did not believe it was a foul and that he thought the governing body reached the right outcome. He added that a ban would have left a stain on the tournament.
Trump said he spoke with FIFA president Gianni Infantino but insisted he only requested a review and did not tell FIFA to overturn the suspension. He described the episode as two athletes colliding and suggested the referee’s decision was poor, calling the official, Brazil’s Raphael Claus, questionable.
The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was astonished by FIFA’s decision to allow Balogun to be picked for the last-16. When BBC Sport asked FIFA for comment on Trump’s intervention, the referee, Belgium’s reaction and the appeal process, the organisation said it had nothing further to add for now.
