President of the US: Donald Trump confirmed that he personally spoke with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the red card and one-match suspension given to Team USA striker Folarin Balogun during the FIFA World Cup match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The suspension was later lifted, allowing Balogun to participate in the United States’ Round of 16 match against Belgium, a decision that sparked widespread debate.The USA is set to face Belgium in a Round of 16 clash at the Seattle Stadium in Seattle on Monday (5:30 am IST). When asked by a reporter, “Can you describe your phone call with Gianni Infantino about the red card? Belgium is appealing the decision,” Trump confirmed that he spoke with the president of FIFA.Here’s what Trump said.I did. I spoke to Gianni, who is very respected, who made the most successful World Cup in history by, they say, four times.This is not just an achievement. I actually said, Johnny, we’ve got all these games. Every one has been a Super bowl, and we have all these games. You know, when you think about it, every game is like a Super Bowl.Yes. I watched last night how Mexico and England played. I mean, two countries. I don’t know the players, although I think Kane is a good player. Look, I play golf with him, and I like him a lot. He is a good player, but he is very good.But I watched and there was no reason for me to watch. And you can’t take your eyes off the game because I said, Johnny, you know, you have all these games because they add games to a country where we actually don’t have any. It’s not our main game, to say the least.And it is four times more successful. He told me last night, four times the number. They think 50 or 60 million people will watch the game tonight. I mean, it turned out to be super bowl numbers.But you have a game tonight, and they think they’re projecting at least 50 million people watching a game. We call it soccer. It’s called football, maybe, but we can’t really call it football because it’s so small. There is a bit of confusion. So, yes, you call it soccer. We’re the only ones who do that, but we have football, and football is good, but I’ve never seen anything like it.So I see the game, and I’m a sports person and a good athlete. And I understand sports very well. Really good. And it wasn’t a foul. It wasn’t even a violation.It was two men running so fast that they happened to bump into each other. You can’t take your foot off and put it right on someone else’s foot when you go, no. These are two great athletes clashing.And this referee, who. Is it a bit suspicious? If you check his. If you check his background. I don’t want to say that because I don’t like to create controversy, but. But very suspicious. If you want, I will give you the past.He made a call that no one could believe. You know, even people on the other side, they say, oh, we’re lucky. Wow, that’s it.And it’s very interesting. They are not supposed to show them in slow motion. And I never realized that I had never heard that before, that they are not allowed to review in slow motion because it is very different, because you take a little quarter of a second and you see that a hand touches a neck or you see something.Whereas when you see it moving fast, it looks like two men colliding, that’s exactly what happened. They were trapped. He didn’t do anything bad, and he was our best player, or one of our best players, an important player.And he gave him a red card. I don’t know what that means. I didn’t think it meant much. Then I started hearing that that means he won’t be able to play in the next game. At least in the next game.I was like, boy, that’s huge. You know, if it happens to another player, it’s not fair. But if they take your best player, or almost, they have some good players, but. And they say you can’t play, that’s 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 that hasn’t even been played? It’s very unfair. You can’t do that.So, yes, I’m asking for a FIFA review. I am talking to a man who is highly respected and, in fact, whose level of respect has increased tenfold.
Folarin Balogun red card : What really happened?
Balogun, the tournament’s top-scorer American with three goals, received a red card for awkwardly stepping on the right ankle of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday, triggering an automatic one-match suspension.FIFA announced on Sunday that the suspension had been lifted for the round of 16 match, a rare move that drew praise from Trump and anger from the Belgium team. It appears to be the first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup has not resulted in a suspension.“Thank you to FIFA for doing what is right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump later said in a statement on social media.The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “surprised,” and Belgium coach Rudi Garcia scoffed at FIFA’s action.“I didn’t know that in the offices of FIFA the fifth of July was the first of April in Europe,” said Garcia through a translator in the April Fools’ Day comparison. “The Belgian federation is not defending itself, it is not defending the national team. It is defending football in general, it is defending its integrity, its behavior. I think this is the first time in the history of the World Cup that there has been this kind of decision.”FIFA said its decision relied on Article 27 of the disciplinary committee’s rules.“The judicial body may decide to completely or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure,” the rule says. “By suspending the execution of the sentence, the judicial body subjects the person allowed to a trial period of one to four years.”