MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Monday, July 6th 2026 - 15:43 UTC
Trump acknowledged his intervention and defended it. “All I did was ask that the play be reviewed, because it didn't look like a foul to me,” the president said
US President Donald Trump admitted he had called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask that the red card shown to US striker Folarin Balogun be reviewed, after the body reversed the suspension that would have kept him out of the round-of-16 match against Belgium. The decision, unprecedented in more than six decades of World Cups, triggered a wave of criticism and formal protests from the Belgian federation and UEFA.
Balogun, the host nation's top scorer, had been sent off on July 1 during a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which carried an automatic one-match suspension with no appeal. On Sunday, however, FIFA announced it was suspending the enforcement of that sanction for a one-year probationary period, invoking Article 27 of its disciplinary code. In practice, the move cleared the player for Monday's match in Seattle, though he will have to serve the ban if he commits a similar foul in the next twelve months.
