United States President Donald Trump has confirmed he asked FIFA to review the one-match suspension handed to forward Folarin Balogun before the governing body overturned the sanction.
Balogun, the United States’ leading scorer at the ongoing FIFA World Cup, was set to miss Tuesday’s Round of 16 clash against Belgium in Seattle after receiving a red card.
However, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee on Sunday suspended the automatic one-match ban for a probationary period of 12 months, making the 25-year-old available for selection.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said he raised the issue with FIFA President Gianni Infantino because he did not believe Balogun’s challenge warranted a suspension.
“I thought it was two great athletes who crashed into each other and got entangled,” Trump said.
Trump stressed that he only asked FIFA to review the decision and did not seek to influence the outcome.
“I can’t tell them what to do. I don’t believe they made the decision. I believe it was the commission that made the decision,” he said.
He welcomed FIFA’s ruling, saying it had “made the right decision” and argued that enforcing the suspension would have left “a big stain” on the tournament.
The decision has drawn criticism from Belgian football authorities and UEFA, both of which have questioned FIFA’s handling of the case ahead of the knockout stage.
