Donald Trump confirmed he asked FIFA to review Folarin Balogun’s red card and called the referee’s decision horrible amid the controversy ahead of the United States of America’s Round of 16 clash against Belgium on Monday (July 6) at the Seattle Stadium.
Balogun was sent off in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would have meant he missed the clash against Belgium. However, a day before the game, the world football governing body announced that the ban had been suspended and the forward can play for the USA.
In the time that has followed since, reports claimed that Trump contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the matter. The American president confirmed the reports in an interaction with the media today.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I saw the play… that wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other… So yes, I asked for a review by FIFA,” Trump confirmed in an interaction with reports.
Trump claimed that it would have been unfair if the USA had to play the fixture without their best player and questioned how people would have felt if Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Harry Kane were not allowed to play.
“And I think it would have been terrible if they wouldn’t allow, you know, a top player-maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the team-to play. I think it would have had a big stain, How would you feel if we took Messi out? You know, “Messi, you ran into somebody.” Or we took Ronaldo out. “Ronaldo, you bumped into somebody. We’re going to take you out of the game.” Or Harry Kane. “Harry Kane, we’re going to take you out of the game, Harry, because you happened to hit somebody a little bit harder. You can’t do that. If you would have taken him out, I think it would have really stained this incredible championship,” the American president further added.
‘Not Aware What A Red Card Is’
He further claimed that he was not aware of what a red card meant before this incident and questioned the call made by the on-field referee. He claimed the independent committee made a brilliant decision to reverse the decision.
“We’ve got to have our best players, and Belgium has a great team, by the way. We have to have our best players, and they have to have their best players. If we win or we lose, it’s fair. Otherwise, let’s say we lost him and we lose the game-it would be a terrible thing. So I think they made a really brilliant decision. I think the referee’s call was horrible, and nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it’s fine. Nobody talks about the referee’s decision to issue the red card. I didn’t know what the hell a red card was. When I found out, I said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” This guy just holds it up: “OK, your best player is not going to play in the next game. I said, “Wow, that’s a lot of power. That’s terrible. But then I looked at his past, and it wasn’t so great,” Trump concluded.
There still remains mystery over whether Balogun can play the match, as Belgium has been allowed to appeal the decision.