Folarin Balogun Breaks Silence On Donald Trump Getting Involved In His Red Card Reversal At FIFA World Cup 2026
Folarin Balogun's red-card reversal sent the world into a meltdown in the earlier stages of the FIFA World Cup
Folarin Balogun's red-card reversal sent the world into a meltdown in the earlier stages of the FIFA World Cup. Balogun was issued a red card during the team's Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1. The Americans won that match 2-0, but a red card normally carries an automatic one-match suspension. Four days later, FIFA announced it had placed Balogun on one year's probation instead, citing Article 27 of its disciplinary code, which gives FIFA's judicial bodies discretion to hold off on enforcing sanctions.
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino confirmed he had spoken with US President Donald Trump, but said he told him the matter was subject to "an ongoing legal process involving FIFA's independent judicial bodies." Trump, for his part, said he did not tell Infantino what to do.
"All I did was ask for a review because I didn't think it was a foul," United States President Donald Trump said.
Balogun has now opened up on the red-card controversy.
"I was in shock. It wasn't even a tackle. You can see my reaction. I just had to accept the decision. When something is not intentional, it should never be a red card. It was an unfortunate situation that put a lot more pressure on us than needed," Balogun said on CBS Mornings.
He was then specifically asked about Donald Trump's involvement in the red-card reversal process.
"My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see a bit of nervousness within my teammates because it's something that is so unique," Balogun responded.
"But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. There was a lot of outside noise, and that's hard to avoid.
United States