Donald Trump has taken aim at critics of Gianni Infantino after FIFA sparked outrage at the World Cup by suspending the ban of USA striker Folarin Balogun following a call from the White House.
Balogun, 25, was thrust into the center of a global storm after it emerged that the President had lobbied FIFA boss Infantino to review his controversial red card.
The USMNT striker had been sent off during the USA’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an automatic suspension initially ruling him out of the last-16 game against Belgium.
But US Soccer chiefs – and the White House – pushed back against the punishment and the striker’s one-game ban was suspended, prompting allegations of favoritism and political interference.
The USMNT went on to crash out of the World Cup with a 4-1 loss against Belgium and Balogun admitted earlier this week that the whole saga impacted Mauricio Pochettino’s players.
But during an event in New York City on Friday, Trump stood alongside Infantino and backed the FIFA president over his handling of the saga. ‘You made another great decision,’ he said. ‘It was so much better the way it worked out because there’s no controversy: [Belgium] won the game and our team had all of its players.’
Donald Trump has taken aim at those who criticized Gianni Infantino over the handling of Folarin Balogun’s red card
The striker was sent off for this challenge during their 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina
Trump then took aim at Infantino’s opponents, adding: ‘You’ll never get credit for it. Think if he didn’t allow [Balogun to play] and they lost.
‘They’d say: “We would have the won the game if we had our best player!”‘
The Balogun affair piled pressure on Infantino, who was accused of caving to the White House.
In response to the fierce backlash, the FIFA president insisted the decision to suspend the striker’s ban was made by ‘independent’ bodies acting ‘autonomously.’
On Friday, Trump branded the Balogun red card ‘probably the most unforgettable’ moment of the World Cup and insisted he had ‘no idea’ whether his intervention would fall on deaf ears.
‘They gave that gentleman, is it a red card? And I was forced to call Gianni and just make a recommendation,’ the 80-year-old said.
‘I said: “Gianni, I’d like to make a recommendation: Let the guy in the game!” Trump joked before clarifying: ‘No I didn’t say that.
Trump called FIFA chief Infantino to ask him to review the sending off, sparking outrage
Balogun admitted his reprieve affected the USA ahead of their World Cup loss against Belgium
‘I said: “I’d like to wage a complaint” and actually I had no idea what was going to happen.’
The president’s comments came a few days after Balogun appeared on CBS Mornings and admitted: ‘My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team. But when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy.
‘And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it’s something that is so unique. But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could but it was difficult – a lot of outside noise and that’s hard to avoid.’
He added: ‘It was confusing because the team was practicing without me in the team, I’m almost just playing a supporting role to keep morale high.’
