With questions still in the air over the involvement of President Donald Trump in suspending a red card ban for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun, US Soccer officials ended a media availability when asked about the controversy.
Balogun’s overturned red card was the biggest blemish on the sporting side of this FIFA World Cup – with the striker allowed to play in the Round of 16 against Belgium after being sent off in the prior match.
After it was revealed that Trump asked FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to review the situation, questions over the corrupt nature of such a request began flying.
In a media roundtable, US Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson was asked repeatedly about the President’s involvement. He initially deflected and focused on the ‘incredible support’ the USMNT got from the home crowds and pointed to the public outcry as an indicator of soccer’s growth in the US sporting arena.
When pressed on if the federation had regrets, Batson replied, ‘The president is able to do what the president wants to do. The president is the president of the United States. Obviously we’re incredibly grateful for all the support, for all of our fans across the country, wherever they are and we’re excited about that and we know that that will pay dividends moving forward.’
But when asked again by the Guardian about regrets involving Trump, the roundtable was ended ten minutes before an agreed-upon hour.
US Soccer CEO JT Batson ended a media roundtable after being pressed on the controversy surrounding President Trump’s involvement to suspend Folarin Balogun’s red card
Balogun was sent off in the World Cup Round of 32, but played in the following match
It was revealed that Trump called FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to ‘review’ Balogun’s red card
‘We’re done, we gotta go. I’m sorry,’ Batson said.
Balogun has recently shared his opinion that the controversy and the aftermath of the suspended one-match ban distracted his teammates in an appearance on CBS Mornings: ‘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.’
As for the future of the USMNT, Batson and USSF chief operating officer Dan Helfrich remained coy when asked about Mauricio Pochettino’s return and if a new sporting director would be hired following the April departure of Matt Crocker.
‘We feel confident we have a great team, and that great team has soccer expertise from deep within the American system and soccer expertise from other parts of the world,’ Helfrich said (via The Guardian).
‘As we are talking about and making strategic choices, we have [vice-president of sporting] Oguchi Onyewu and [head of development] Barry Pauwels and [head of women’s youth development] Tracey Kevins and Emma Hayes who are part of the discussions we’re having, both about near-term choices and about longer-term structure.
‘I anticipate, in the months to come, there’s a little more clarity on structure, but the fundamentals of the team are there.’
