Source : ABC NEWS
Donald Trump says he asked FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to review a US striker’s World Cup red card as Europe’s football body UEFA says the U-turn “crossed a red line”.
The decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s red card, given during the US’s match with Bosnia and Herzegovina, has sent shockwaves through the World Cup and thrust FIFA’s disciplinary process into the spotlight.
FIFA’s decision, which followed the intervention from the White House, prompted an angry response led by Belgium, who play the US on Tuesday AEST for a place in the quarterfinals.
Speaking in Washington, Mr Trump said it was unfair for FIFA to take out one of the United States’ best players but defended his role in the matter.
“All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul,”
he said.
The US president said the incident that got Balogun the red card was simply a case of two athletes colliding and he raised questions about the fairness of the referee who called the foul.
“I saw the play,” Mr Trump said. “That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.”
He said FIFA made a “really brilliant decision” to suspend the red card. “I think the referee’s call was horrible,” he said.
Mr Infantino said FIFA’s judicial bodies operated “independently and autonomously” and that he had told Mr Trump the Balogun case was subject to an ongoing legal process.
“During our conversation I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” Infantino said in a statement.
“That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”
The decision prompted a sharp statement by UEFA, Europe’s footballing body, however.
Folarin Balogun, who has scored three goals at the World Cup, is free to play for the US against Belgium. (Getty Images: John Dorton)
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” UEFA said in a statement on Monday, adding that it “crossed a red line”.
“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.“
The high-profile intervention by UEFA echoed criticism from some leading lights of the sport.
“This is our sport, not theirs,” said former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Jurgen Klopp says Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump “know nothing about football”. (Getty Images: Liverpool FC/John Powell)
“If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into question.
“These two people (Trump and Infantino), who know nothing about football, should have absolutely nothing to do with this.”
The head of the German football association said the “integrity of the competition and the credibility of FIFA are at stake.”
As criticism spilled over into the political sphere, the European Commissioner For Sport warned against “the weaponisation of sport for political purposes”.
Balogun, who has scored three goals for the US in the tournament, was sent off after a VAR review for dragging his cleats down the back of defender Tarik Muharemovic’s leg and onto his foot during their win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32.
The red card carried an automatic one-match ban, ruling Balogun out of Monday’s round of 16 tie with Belgium. FIFA instead suspended the ban for a one-year probationary period without rescinding the card itself.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice,” Trump wrote on Truth Social while the White House celebrated Balogun’s reinstatement in the squad with a post on X saying: “USA-USA-USA.”
Even former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, who stepped down in 2015 amid corruption allegations, joined the criticism.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies,”
he said.
“If a US President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis, FIFA? Football must never become a playground for political power.”
Reuters/ABC
