The President of the United States, Donald Trump, admitted this Tuesday that he intervened with the highest official of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, to "review" the red card shown to the American international Folarin Balogun, who will finally be able to play this Tuesday against Belgium, after insisting that "it wasn't even a foul" and questioning the performance of the Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, who issued the striker's expulsion.
"Yes, I did. I spoke with Gianni, a very respected person, who has organized the most successful World Cup in history," he explained from the Oval Office, confirming that he interceded for FIFA to re-examine the Brazilian's refereeing in the round of 16 match.
Trump recounted that he carefully watched the play and, as a person "who loves sports" and who understands "the sport very well," concluded that "that was not a foul." "It wasn't even an infraction. It was two players running at full speed who simply collided with each other (...) they got tangled up in the play," he detailed about the play that led to Balogun's expulsion, after stepping on the Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic in the 64th minute.
In his statements, the leader directly pointed to the referee for showing the direct red card, emphasizing that Claus "is a bit suspicious." "I don't want to say it because I don't like to generate controversy, but it turns out to be quite suspicious. If you want, I can show you his record," he added, fueling doubts about a decision that, according to him, "no one could believe."
Trump also acknowledged that he was unaware that the card implied Balogun's absence from the next match, in which the United States will face Belgium for a ticket to the quarterfinals. "He is an absolutely fundamental player. I didn't know what that decision meant. I thought it wouldn't have too many consequences. Then I started hearing that it meant he couldn't play the next game, at least the next one," he pointed out.
"That is very unfair," he opined, emphasizing that leaving one of the best footballers of the American team out of the next match was a disproportionate punishment.
"If it had happened to any other player it would also have been unfair, but when you sideline the best player, or one of the best," he added, to confirm that at that moment he contacted Infantino so that he would "review" the situation, although he denied having had direct influence on the outcome of the process.
According to his version, maintaining the sanction "would have left a great stain on the championship." "That was the only thing I conveyed. I didn't tell him what decision to make," he stressed.
"I don't think he was the one who decided," he said about the FIFA president. "I think it was a committee. And that committee made the right decision because, in the first place, there was no foul. Besides, people want to see the best players," he valued, comparing the possible absence of Balogun with depriving Argentina of Lionel Messi, Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo, or England of Harry Kane.
Along these lines, he pointed out that if Belgium wins the tie, they can feel equally proud, but he remarked that "if they had won with the opponent's best player absent due to that decision, the feeling would have been very different."