How Donald Trump intervened to get USA's red card suspension postponed
US President Donald Trump called Fifa president Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the World Cup suspension of USA striker Folarin Balogun, which was reversed by football’s governing body overnight, the New York Times reported.
Balogun had been sent off for inadvertently treading on Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic in the USA’s 2-0 victory in the Round-of-32 match last week.
Under Fifa rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-game ban that cannot be appealed by the player’s team, meaning Balogun was ruled out of USA’s last 16 match against Belgium to be played at midday tomorrow (NZT).
But Trump called Infantino last week asking him to review the decision, the New York Times reported, citing three unnamed people familiar with the decision.
Overnight, Fifa took the unusual decision to suspend the ban for one year. Trump quickly thanked the governing body in a social media post for “reversing a great injustice”.
Belgium’s football association said it was “astonished” at Fifa’s decision.
Donald Trump (inset) reportedly intervened to have Folarin Balogun's red-card suspension postponed. Photo / AFP
At the weekend, Trump thanked Fifa for suspending the red card.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Balogun has been key to the USA’s progress in the tournament and his absence against Belgium would have been a blow to the team.
Fifa said in a statement: “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.”
After the red card, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called for the card to be rescinded.
Before being shown the red card, Balogun scored in the 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It was the co-hosts’ first World Cup knockout victory in nearly a quarter-century – and only their second ever.
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