Trump addresses FIFA's decision on USA star Folarin Balogun's World Cup suspension

President Donald Trump said Monday helium asked FIFA to reappraisal the determination to springiness U.S. men’s shot squad prima Folarin Balogun a reddish paper during past week’s triumph implicit Bosnia and Herzegovina successful the World Cup knockout stage.

Balogun was fixed a reddish paper aft a VAR reappraisal to look astatine a play successful which Balogun stepped connected the ankle of a defender. He would person been suspended for the team’s lucifer against Belgium but FIFA decided to suspend the one-game ban. A root told Fox News that Trump asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to person the enactment reappraisal it.

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President Donald Trump holds up a reddish paper during a gathering with FIFA president Gianni Infantino successful the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, successful Washington. (Evan Vucci / AP)

Trump addressed the contention successful the Oval Office.

"All I did was, I asked for a review, due to the fact that I didn’t deliberation it was a foul," the president said. "And again, I’m bully astatine this stuff. I didn’t deliberation it was a foul. I thought it was 2 large athletes who crashed into each different and got entangled. That was not a feline punching idiosyncratic successful the look oregon thing that would beryllium different.

"I deliberation it’s a unspeakable … if they wouldn’t let a apical player, possibly the best, possibly among the champion connected the team, to play, I deliberation it would person had a large stain. I relayed it. I didn’t archer him what to do. I don’t judge helium made the decision. I deliberation it was a committee that made the determination and they made the close determination because, No. 1, it wasn’t a foul and you privation to spot a crippled with your champion players."

Trump said the feeling would beryllium the aforesaid if Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo oregon Harry Kane would person been fixed a reddish paper successful a akin way.

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Folarin Balogun of the United States celebrates aft scoring the USMNT's 3rd extremity successful the archetypal fractional of Group Stage, Group D lucifer against Paraguay connected June 12, 2026 successful Inglewood, California. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

He besides took contented with the telephone itself.

"If you would person taken him out, I deliberation it would person truly stained this unthinkable championship," Trump continued. "We gotta person our champion players and Belgium, Belgium’s got a large squad by the way. We person our champion players and they person to person their best. If we triumph oregon we lose, it’s fair. Otherwise, let’s accidental we mislaid to them, past we mislaid the game. It would beryllium a unspeakable thing. I deliberation they made a truly superb decision.

"I deliberation the referee’s telephone was horrible and cipher talks astir that. They speech astir the reddish paper similar it’s fine. The referee’s determination to reddish card, I didn’t cognize what the hellhole a reddish paper was and erstwhile I recovered retired I said, ‘You gotta beryllium kidding.’ … I said, ‘Wow, that’s a batch of power, that’s terrible.’ And past I looked astatine his past and it wasn’t truthful great."

Belgium said it "sent a missive to FIFA requesting a transcript of the decision, an mentation of the process that had been followed, and mounting retired its presumption regarding the applicable regulations."

"As its lone response, FIFA sent a missive to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to represent an appeal, that a justice had been appointed, and that the RBFA had lone a fewer hours to implicit that appeal. No accusation whatsoever was provided by FIFA," the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said.

"For an entreaty to beryllium admissible, FIFA’s ain regulations authorities that the reasoned determination indispensable archetypal person been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was simply seeking morganatic explanations, FIFA itself created an entreaty and instantly ensured that it would beryllium declared inadmissible."

President Donald Trump, Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, and Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, airs for a selfie with Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, during the FIFA World Cup 2026 authoritative gully astatine the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts successful Washington, D.C., connected Dec. 5, 2025. (Hector Vivas/FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The RBFA added that FIFA has not responded to its requests.

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"Regardless of the sporting result of this match, the RBFA is profoundly acrophobic by the people of events and volition proceed to combat successful the coming hours, days and months successful defence of the cardinal principles of ethics, just competition, and the interests of shot arsenic a whole."

The U.S. and Belgium play successful the Round of 16 connected Monday nighttime astatine 8 p.m. ET.