Trump says he asked FIFA president to review red card, called it a ‘horrible’ call

WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump said Monday that he personally asked FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the decision to give a red card and one-game ban to Team USA star striker Folarin Balogun — a remarkable intervention that sparked a torrent of controversy at the World Cup.

FIFA on Sunday announced that Balogun would be eligible to play in the Round of 16 against Belgium Monday night, igniting a political firestorm and questions around the integrity of the tournament.

“All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this,’” Trump said from the Oval Office, adding that he “didn’t think it was a foul.” He referred to the incident as “two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.”

Video below: Trump addresses the World Cup red card controversy: “He didn’t do anything wrong”

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said of the U.S. player.

Trump said the red card was a “horrible” call, arguing that the slowed-down video review made it look worse than it was.

“That’s very unfair,” he said. “How do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played?”

Video below: Trump says Belgium “can be very proud if they would win”

The comments represent the first detailed account from Trump on his conversation with Infantino.

“I didn’t tell him what to do, I can’t tell him what to do,” he said, adding that an independent committee “made the right decision.”

Trump also called the referee’s integrity into question, saying the referee was a “little bit suspect” as he encouraged reporters to “check his past.”

The president’s comments are likely to inflame the controversy surrounding the red card, which sparked debate over whether it was warranted from the moment it was shown.

When the play happened during Wednesday night’s game, the referee in the match did not rule it a foul, instead appearing to decide that it was a fair coming together of players who were chasing after the ball.

It took the intervention of the video assistant referee to call attention to whether Balogun had committed a foul. The referee was shown slow motion replays of the incident, something that is out of protocol with video review in World Cup matches, and those replays showed Balogun’s spikes catching the ankle of the Bosnian player.

It was then decided it was a red card for “serious foul play,” sending Balogun off the pitch and raising questions about whether proper process had been followed or if the decision was too harsh.

For its part, the Royal Belgium Football Association said Monday morning it has filed an appeal of FIFA’s decision to allow Balogun to play in Monday night’s match.

“To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player’s eligibility for the upcoming match,” the RBFA said in a statement.