Trump admits he asked FIFA to look at Balogun's red card
President Donald Trump said Monday that he personally reached out to FIFA after U.S. striker Folarin Balogun was shown a red card that initially would have sidelined him for the Americans’ Round of 16 match, arguing Wednesday’s play against Bosnia and Herzegovina never warranted an ejection.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he watched the play and concluded the ejection was unwarranted, calling the referee “very suspect” because of his past, though he declined to elaborate on what he meant.
“I asked for a review,” Trump said, adding that he believed the challenge “wasn’t a foul” and “wasn’t even an infraction.”
Trump insisted he never pressured FIFA President Gianni Infantino to overturn the call, emphasizing that the governing body’s decision was made independently.
“I can’t tell him what to do, and I don’t believe he made the decision,” Trump said. “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.”
The episode has ignited a broader controversy over the integrity of the tournament. Rather than focusing solely on the United States’s matchup with Belgium, attention has shifted to whether political pressure influenced FIFA’s disciplinary process.
The decision has drawn criticism from European soccer officials and others who argue FIFA undermined its own rules by reversing what is typically an automatic suspension. Instead of entering the knockout stage with momentum alone, the U.S. now faces questions about whether its path was altered by White House intervention.
“If a phone call really is what explains this incomprehensible decision, it would amount to undermining the most basic rules of soccer and sports,” Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prevote said.
The Belgian soccer federation said it would appeal the decision, but there was no guarantee that a ruling would come before the game, which is set to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern in Seattle.
Among those celebrating the outcome was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who thanked Trump during the White House event.
“On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” Cruz said. “It was spectacular. There was a reason the FIFA trophy sat here for as long as it did.”
Infantino and Trump have close ties. In December, Infantino awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.
New disclosure reports filed by Trump also show that Infantino gave him 10 tickets, valued at $15,000, to last July’s FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Trump attended the match and joined Infantino on the field to present the trophy.
Trump is also expected to be on hand for this year’s World Cup finals game on July 19 and present the trophy to the winner, placing himself at the center of soccer’s most-watched ceremony.