President Donald Trump has intervened in the World Cup, temporarily reversing the suspension of American star forward Folarin Balogun and allowing him to play in the U.S. match against Belgium on Monday.
Trump made a call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the red card Balogun received during the team’s win against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1, a source familiar with the matter granted anonymity to speak about sensitive matters told MS NOW.
The organization announced Sunday that it would suspend his match ban for a one-year probationary period, triggering praise from Trump and outrage from Belgium’s team.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said in a statement on social media.
Sports Broadcaster Ben Jacobs was first to report the call between Trump and Infantino.
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “astonished” and Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked FIFA’s action.
“I didn’t know that in the offices of FIFA the 5th of July was the 1st of April in Europe,” Garcia said through a translator in an April Fools’ Day comparison. “The Belgian federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team, She defends football in general, she defends her integrity, her ethics. I think it’s the first time in the history of the World Cup that there is this kind of decision.”
Garcia wouldn’t respond when asked about a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport or whether he thought Trump impacted FIFA’s action.
“In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian federation said in a statement.
Balogun, the American leader with three goals, received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemović of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday. A red card triggers an automatic one-game suspension.
American players learned of Balogun’s availability when social media posts started popping up during the 10-minute bus ride Sunday from their hotel to training at the University of Washington’s Husky Soccer Stadium.
Balogun’s red card had been one of the World Cup’s most controversial and consequential decisions.
“If you look at the foul, it was just zero intent at all,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said. “I felt like there was much worse ones that went on this tournament.”
The U.S. Soccer Federation learned of FIFA’s action in a message sent by FIFA in its portal at 10:31 a.m. EDT.
“The implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” FIFA announced. “If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”
