Trump says he asked FIFA to review Balogun ban as Belgium awaits answer on the pitch

Donald Trump has done what many political leaders only dream of and most sensible ones avoid: he inserted himself into a World Cup disciplinary case. The U.S. president has confirmed that he asked FIFA to review the one-match suspension handed to Folarin Balogun, the United States striker who had been set to miss the last-16 match against Belgium.

Balogun, 25, was sent off with a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round. Under the original sanction, he would have sat out the next game. FIFA then took the unusual step of suspending the automatic ban for 12 months, which means the forward is available for selection in Seattle. He has scored three goals at this summer’s tournament, which helps explain why the matter attracted more attention than a routine disciplinary file usually deserves.

Trump said FIFA had made the right decision and argued that enforcing the ban would have left a big stain on the tournament. He also said he had spoken to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but insisted he had only asked for a review and had not told him what to do. In Trump’s account, the decision was not his to make; it belonged to FIFA’s commission, which, he said, reached the correct conclusion.

He was less charitable about the referee, Raphael Claus. Trump described the sending-off as horrible and questioned the Brazilian official’s judgment. That sort of language may be familiar in political combat, but on a football matter it still carries the faint whiff of a man who thinks every institution can be persuaded if he simply turns up loud enough.

Belgium, unsurprisingly, was not impressed. Earlier on Monday, the Royal Belgian Football Association said it was astonished by FIFA’s decision to allow Balogun to be selected for the round-of-16 tie, which kicks off at 17:00 local time, or 01:00 BST on Tuesday. The federation’s reaction was terse, which is often what happens when a sporting body finds itself on the wrong side of an administrative surprise.

FIFA itself has so far declined to add much. Asked by BBC Sport to comment on Trump’s remarks, his view of Claus, Belgium’s objections and the appeal process, the organisation said it had nothing more to add for now. That silence may be prudent, but it also leaves the impression of a governing body happy enough to make a dramatic call and then disappear behind the curtain.

The episode is small in scale and awkward in implication. A World Cup suspension was reviewed after intervention from a head of state, and the player at the centre of it is now available for a knockout match. For FIFA, that is hardly the sort of precedent one advertises in glossy brochures about sporting independence.

Written by Sandy van Dongen sandy.vandongen@alpineweekly.com