Folarin Balogun admitted that President Donald Trump’s involvement in the suspension of his one-game ban affected the United States men’s national team (USMNT) before its World Cup Round of 16 matchup against Belgium.
“When I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun told CBS Morning News. “And I could almost see in my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that’s so unique… It was difficult; a lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”
Balogun was set to miss the July 6 clash against Belgium after he was shown a red card in the second half of the USA’s Round of 32 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina — the program’s first knockout-stage win at a World Cup in 24 years. But just one day before kick-off, FIFA announced that the one-game ban was suspended — he was put on a one-year probationary period instead — and allowed to play.
It was a shocking and unprecedented decision that sent shockwaves throughout the soccer world. While FIFA cited Article 27 of its disciplinary code, which states that it can “fully or partially suspend” any disciplinary measure, suspicions of foul play were heightened when President Trump admitted he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask him to review the Balogun decision.
“He’s our best player, or one of our best players,” Trump said of Balogun. “And [Claus] gave him a red card. I didn’t know what that meant; I didn’t think that meant much. Then I started hearing that he can’t play in the next game. I said, ‘Boy, if that happened to another player, that would be unfair.’ But if they take our best player and say, ‘You can’t play,’ that’s very unfair. It’s one thing to penalize someone from the game, but how do you penalize him for a game that hasn’t been played yet? That’s very unfair. You can’t do that.
“So yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who is highly respected and, by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold, and he was good before this started.”
While Belgium fumed at the decision, a stance supported by the likes of Norwegian manager Stale Solbakken, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter also chimed in against it — ironic, considering the corruption he was involved in to award Qatar the World Cup in 2022.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence, and independent bodies,” he wrote on his X account. “If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis [where are you going], FIFA? Football must never become a playground for political power.”
All the while, any goodwill earned by Team USA during its impressive run to the Round of 16 was undone in an instant, and a target was unnecessarily painted on Balogun’s back. The Americans looked out of sorts and, ultimately, were overmatched by Belgium, losing 4-1 and being knocked out of the tournament.
Clearly, the circus created in part by President Trump had something to do with it.
For more on Folarin Balogun and the World Cup, visit AMNY.com
