President Trump confirmed Monday that he asked FIFA to review U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card, thrusting himself into the controversy surrounding the unusual decision to allow the striker to play in a clash with Belgium.
Mr. Trump said he rang up FIFA President Gianni Infantino and warned that taking out a prominent American player would have “stained” a highly celebrated event being hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
“I saw the play, and I’m a person who loves sports,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed who happened to run into each other.”
“All I did [is] I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” he said. “I can’t tell them what to do.”
Mr. Trump said he brought up the ratings for the World Cup and said he worried people would not tune in, given Balogun’s profile.
“I said, Gianni, is anybody going to show up?” Mr. Trump said.
“He didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s one of our best players. They say you can’t play?” the president said. “I asked for a review by FIFA.”
Mr. Trump’s comments are likely to fuel an already raging debate around the decision to let Balogun play.
Some Americans will give Mr. Trump the rhetorical equivalent of a fist bump. Europeans and global soccer pundits will call FIFA’s U-Turn under political duress a historical stain on the sport.
Balogun was sent off in a Round of 32 game on Wednesday after receiving a red card for his challenge on a Bosnian player. Normally, he would be suspended for the next game.
Yet the White House took an interest in the controversy, and FIFA said Sunday that Balogun could play.
“In line with Article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” FIFA said in a written statement. “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.”
Balogun is a major goal-scoring threat for the U.S., which is trying to reach the quarterfinal stage of a World Cup for the first time since 2002 when it faces Belgium in a Round-of-16 game late Monday in Seattle.
His red card was controversial from the moment it happened Wednesday. The U.S. player landed awkwardly on a Bosnian player’s ankle, causing it to twist gruesomely.
The Brazilian referee, Raphael Claus, did not initially call a foul but reviewed the play on the video-assisted referee, or VAR, protocols.
“These are two great athletes that got tangled up. This referee, who is a little bit suspect, if you check his past,” Mr. Trump said, alluding to allegations of match fixing in Brazil.
In addition, White House reportedly pointed to the use of slow-motion replays to review the situation.
The U.S. said that the decision violated normal procedures in these situations and the ref should have reviewed real-time footage, which made the challenge look more like an awkward landing than a malicious challenge against the Bosnian.
Many soccer analysts said the red card was harsh. Yet politics loomed over the decision to lift Mr. Balogun’s suspension.
Mr. Infantino had cozied up to Mr. Trump in the run-up to the tournament.
The FIFA chief visited the White House frequently to promote the tournament and awarded Mr. Trump the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize after the U.S. leader failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
While Belgium and other Europeans fume, many U.S. fans say an injustice has been corrected, and that is that.
Some Americans joked that it was nice to be the beneficiary of alleged FIFA corruption and that it must mean Americans have made it as a soccer nation.
Mr. Trump initially said he did not want to talk about soccer during his Oval Office event, which was scheduled to celebrate the launch of tax-advantaged “Trump Accounts” for U.S. children.
But Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, lunged headlong into the issue.
“On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” the senator said from the lectern. “It was spectacular.”
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