President of the United States Donald Trump Confirmed that he personally spoke to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the situation in which U.S. forward Folarin Balogun was sent off and suspended for one game during the World Cup against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The suspension was later lifted and Balogun was allowed to participate in the United States’ round of 16 match against Belgium, a decision that sparked widespread debate.The United States is scheduled to face Belgium in the last 16 at Seattle Arena on Monday (5:30am IST). When a reporter asked “Can you describe the phone call you had with Gianni Infantino about the red card? Belgium is appealing the decision,” Trump confirmed he had spoken to the FIFA president.Trump said this:I did it. I spoke to Gianni, a highly respected man who is said to have hosted the most successful World Cups in history four times.It’s not just success. I actually said, Johnny, we’ve got all these games. Every game is going to be a Super Bowl and we have all these games. You know, when you think about it, every game is like the Super Bowl.Yes. I watched the Mexico-England game last night. I mean, two countries. I don’t know these players, although I think Kane is a great player. Look, I played golf with him and I liked him a lot. He’s a good golfer, but he’s really good.But I watched it, and I had no reason to watch it. You couldn’t take your eyes off the games because I said, Johnny, you know, you have all these games because they added games in a country that we didn’t really have. To put it mildly, it’s not our primary sport.And that has been four times more successful. He told me last night that the number was four times as high. They think there will be 50 or 60 million people watching tonight. I mean, these are going to be Super Bowl numbers.But there’s a game tonight that they think is expected to be watched by at least 50 million people. We call it football. I guess that’s football, but we can’t really call it football because it’s kind of. There is a bit of confusion. So, yeah, you call it football. We were the only ones doing it but we had football and football was great but I’ve never seen anything like it.So I watched this drama, and I am a sports-loving person and an excellent athlete. I know a lot about sports. Really good. That’s not a foul. That’s not a violation at all.It was two guys running at full speed who happened to bump into each other. You can’t put your feet properly on someone else’s feet when you’re away, no. These are two great athletes entwined.And who is this referee? Isn’t this a bit suspicious? If you check his. If you look up his past. I hate to say this because I don’t like to be controversial, but. But very suspicious. I can provide you with past events if you wish.He made a phone call that no one believed. You know, even people on the other side, they’re like, oh, we’re lucky. Wow, that’s it.This is very interesting. They said they wouldn’t show them in slow motion. I never realized I’d never heard of this before, they don’t allow the review in slow motion because it’s so different because you only have a quarter of a second and you see a hand touching the neck or you see something.And when you watch it in fast motion, it looks like two people colliding, which is exactly what happened. They’re kind of intertwined. He’s done nothing wrong, he’s our best player, or one of our best players, a very important player.And gave him a red card. I don’t know what that means. I don’t think this makes much sense. Then I started hearing that it meant he couldn’t play the next game. At least in the next game.I said, boy, that’s big. You know, it wouldn’t be fair if it happened to other players. But when they take away your best player, or almost, they have some great players, but. They say you can’t play, which is very unfair.That’s it. You know, it’s one thing to punish someone for a game, but how do you punish them for a game they haven’t played yet? This is very unfair. You can’t do that.So yes, I’m asking FIFA to review it. I spoke to a highly respected man, and by the way, his respect level has increased tenfold.
Folarin Balogun red card : what happened
On Wednesday, in the 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun, the United States’ top scorer with three goals, received a red card for accidentally stepping on the right ankle of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.FIFA announced on Sunday that the 16-match suspension had been lifted, an extraordinary move that drew praise from Trump and anger from Belgium. It appears to be the first time since 1962 that a red card during the World Cup did not result in a suspension.“Thank you FIFA for doing the right thing and reversing a huge injustice!” Trump later issued a statement on social media.The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “surprised” as Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked FIFA’s actions.“I didn’t know in the FIFA offices that July 5th was April 1st in Europe,” Garcia said in an April Fool’s Day comparison through a translator. “The Belgian Football Federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team. She defends football as a whole, her integrity and her morals. I think this is the first time in the history of the World Cup that such a decision has been made.”FIFA said its decision was based on Article 27 of the Disciplinary Committee Rules.“The judicial authorities may decide to suspend the execution of disciplinary measures in whole or in part,” the rule states. “The judicial authorities, by suspending the execution of sanctions, impose a suspended sentence of one to four years on the sanctioned person.”
