Trump Describes His Call With FIFA President Before Last-Minute Decision On U.S. Suspension

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he “relayed” to FIFA President Gianni Infantino that there would have been “a big stain” on the World Cup if U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun was forced to sit out of the team’s game on Monday.

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During a gaggle with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump went into more detail about his phone call with Infantino, which took place just before FIFA announced that Balogun could suit up for Team USA’s Monday night round of 16 match against Belgium.

“I didn’t tell [Infantino] what to do,” Trump said. “I can’t tell him what to do, and I don’t believe he made the decision. I believe it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision.”

“I didn’t think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled,” Trump said of the on-field incident last week that resulted in Balogun’s red card, which was only handed out after a video review.

Balogun was handed a red card and one-game suspension after he made contact with a defender for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the U.S. star’s cleat scraped the back of the defender’s ankle. “That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that would be different,” Trump added.

“I think the referee’s call was horrible,” the president continued. “Nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it’s fine. The referee’s decision to red card — I didn’t know what the hell a red card was — when I found out I said you’ve gotta be kidding. … Okay, your best player is not going to play next game. I said, wow that’s a lot of power. That’s terrible.”

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FIFA’s decision on Sunday to overturn Balogun’s suspension caused outrage among European soccer elites, including from Belgium. The country’s soccer officials said they were “astonished” by the reversal, and Belgium’s coach Rudi Garcia blasted FIFA. Belgium also reportedly “lawyered up” to fight FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension, and on Monday, Belgium was granted the right to appeal FIFA’s decision to allow the U.S. star to play.

A decision on Belgium’s appeal could be handed down before the game between the United States and Belgium starts at 7:00 p.m. ET, but Belgium was not guaranteed that a ruling would come from FIFA before the game, The Athletic reported.

FIFA reversed Balogun’s suspension after the White House put together a team of elite lawyers to look into challenging soccer officials’ use of replay review in determining Balogun’s red card last week, Outkick founder Clay Travis reported.

The United States is looking for just its second berth into the World Cup quarterfinals in its history with a win against Belgium.

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