President Donald Trump has confirmed he asked Fifa to review United States striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension at the World Cup.
Balogun, 25, was set to miss his side’s last-16 tie against Belgium after being shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round.
But Fifa made the shock decision to suspend the automatic one-match ban for 12 months, leading to widespread criticism, including from Uefa, Belgium and England boss Thomas Tuchel.
Fifa’s decision frees US forward Balogan, who has scored three goals at this summer’s tournament, to be selected for the match in Seattle, which kicks off at 17:00 local time (01:00 BST on Tuesday).
Trump said football’s world governing body “made the right decision”, adding it would have left a “big stain” on the tournament had the ban been implemented.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump said he had asked Fifa to review the decision because he “didn’t think it was a foul”.
He confirmed he had spoken to Fifa president Gianni Infantino but said “all” he did was ask for a review and added he did not tell the Swiss he had to suspend Balogun’s ban.
Trump added: “I think it [the suspension] would have left a big stain. 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. And it was the right decision.”
Trump said referee Raphael Claus’ decision to send off Balogun was “horrible” and called the Brazilian “a little bit suspect”.
In response, the Brazilian football conferdation (CBF) defended Claus’ integrity, stating: “There is nothing in his record that discredits him or gives grounds for any suspicion. He is an exemplary professional.”
In a statement on X, Infantino said that on receiving a call from Trump, he told the US President 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”.
Earlier on Monday, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “astonished” by Fifa’s decision, while European football governing body Uefa said on Tuesday it left the integrity of football at stake.
Belgium’s appeal against the decision has been dismissed.
The Fifa appeal committee deemed Belgium are not an interested party as they were not involved in the original decision and are merely the United States’ next opponents.
“The request was rendered inadmissible on the grounds that the Belgian FA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” said Fifa in a statement.
This means Balogun will be free to play against Belgium because there is no party who would appeal against the decision.
