Trump says he asked FIFA to review U.S. player Balogun's red card
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the red card shown to U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, arguing that the incident had been wrongly judged by the referee, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Balogun received a red card during the United States’ Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under tournament rules, the sending-off meant an automatic one match suspension, which would have ruled him out of the Round of 16 game against Belgium.
FIFA suspended for a one-year probationary period the implementation of the automatic one match suspension imposed on U.S. forward Folarin Balogun following his red card, making him eligible to play against Belgium in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he had requested only a review of the decision and had not pressured FIFA to overturn the sanction.
“All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul. 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,” Trump said.
Trump welcomed FIFA’s decision to suspend the automatic one match ban resulting from Balogun’s red card, describing it as “a really brilliant decision.”
The U.S. president also stressed that FIFA had made its own decision.
The decision prompted criticism from UEFA, which issued a statement saying the move had “crossed a red line.”
According to UEFA, the automatic one match suspension following a red card is a fundamental principle of football regulations and is not subject to discretionary interpretation. The organization warned that making exceptions during an ongoing World Cup undermines the integrity and credibility of the competition while creating a precedent for similar cases.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” UEFA said.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that ticket prices for the United States’ Round of 16 match against Belgium had dropped by more than 30% before rebounding slightly ahead of kickoff.
