What Donald Trump told FIFA boss Gianni Infantino about Folarin Balogun’s red card – Full Interview

Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino (AP Photo) US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he has spoken personally with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the red card and one-match suspension handed out to Team USA striker Folarin Balogun during their World Cup match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The suspension was later overturned, allowing Balogun to feature in the United States’ Round of 16 match against Belgium, sparking widespread debate.The USA will face Belgium in the Round of 16 on Monday (5:30 AM IST) at the Seattle Stadium in Seattle. When asked by a reporter, “Can you describe your phone call with Gianni Infantino regarding the red card? Belgium will appeal the decision,” Trump confirmed that he had spoken with the FIFA president.Here’s what Trump said:I do. I spoke to Gianni, who is highly regarded and who, they say, produced the most successful World Cup in history four times.That’s not just success. I actually said, johnny, we have all these games. Every one of them turns out 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. Last night I saw what a game it was with Mexico and England. So two countries. I don’t know the player, although I think Kane is a great player. You see, I played golf with him and I like him very much. He’s a good golfer, but he’s really great.But I watched and I have no reason to watch. And you couldn’t take your eyes off the game because I said johnny you know you got all these games because they added games in the country where we really don’t. It’s not our main sport, to put it mildly.And that was four times more successful. He told me last night that the numbers are four times higher. He thinks 50 or 60 million people will watch the game tonight. I mean those are super bowl numbers.But you have a game tonight and they think they’re projecting at least 50 million people watching the game. We call it football. It’s called football, I think, but we can’t call it football because it’s not enough. It’s a bit confusing. So you call it football. We’re the only ones doing it, but we have football and football is great, but I’ve never seen anything like it.So I saw the game and I’m a person who loves sports and I was a good athlete. And I understand sports really well. Really good. And that wasn’t a foul. It wasn’t even a misdemeanor.They were two guys running at full speed and accidentally bumped into each other. When you walk, you can’t take your leg and put it on someone else’s leg properly, no. They were two great athletes who got tangled up.And this referee who. Is it a bit suspicious? If you check his. If you check his background. I don’t want to say this because I don’t like to stir up controversy, but. But very suspicious. I’ll give you the past if you want.He made a call that no one could believe. You know, even people on the other side say, oh, we were lucky. Wow, that’s it.And it is very interesting. They say they don’t show them in slow motion. And I never realized I’d never heard of it before, that they’re not allowed to review in slow motion because it’s so different because it’ll take you a quarter of a second and you’ll see a hand touch your neck or you’ll see something.Whereas if you see it in fast motion, it will look like two guys collided, which actually happened. They got involved somehow. He has done nothing wrong and he is our best player or one of our best players, a very vital player.And he gave him a red card. I didn’t know what that meant. I thought it didn’t mean much. Then I started hearing that it meant he couldn’t play in the next game. At least in the next game.I said, boy, that’s big. You know, if it happened to another player, it would be unfair. But if they take your best player or just like that they have great players but. And they say you can’t play, that’s very unfair.It is. You know, it’s one thing to punish someone for a game, but how do you punish them for a game that hasn’t been played yet? It is very unfair. You can’t do that.So yes, I asked FIFA for a review. I spoke with a man who is highly respected and whose level of respect has increased tenfold.

Folarin Balogun red card: What exactly happened

Balogun, America’s top scorer at the tournament with three goals, was red-carded for a clumsy step on the right ankle of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic in the 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday, earning him an automatic one-match ban.FIFA announced on Sunday that the suspension had been lifted for the round of 16 match, an extraordinary move that drew praise from Trump and outrage from the Belgian team. It was the first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup did not lead to a sending off.“Thank you FIFA for doing the right thing and reversing a great injustice!” Trump later made the announcement in a statement on social media.The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “surprised” and Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked FIFA’s move.“I didn’t know that in the FIFA offices, the fifth of July is the first of April in Europe,” Garcia said through a translator in the April Fool’s Day comparison. “The Belgian federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team. It defends football in general, it defends its integrity, its ethics. 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 Commission Rules.“The judicial authority may decide on a full or partial suspension of the execution of the disciplinary measure,” the rule states. “By postponing the execution of the sanction, the judicial authority subjects the sanctioned person to a probationary period of one to four years.