U.S. President Donald Trump is facing criticism over reports that he asked Gianni Infantino, president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), to review the suspension of U.S. national soccer team forward Folarin Balogun.
On the 6th (local time), at a White House event launching the "Trump Savings Account," Trump answered yes when a reporter asked whether he had currency with Infantino, the FIFA president. Trump said, "It wasn't intentional when Balogun got the red card," and added, "I only asked for a review."
On the 2nd, in the round of 32 between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, Balogun stepped on an opponent's ankle and was shown a red card. However, the next day FIFA notified that it would suspend the execution of Balogun's one-match ban for one year.
In response, criticism has intensified not only in Belgium, which is set to face the United States in the round of 16, but also across Europe and within the United States.
Maxime Prévot, Belgium's deputy prime minister and foreign minister and a former soccer referee, told the political outlet Politico, "If a single phone call really led to this incomprehensible decision, it undermines the most basic rules of soccer and sports."
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) criticized, saying, "FIFA crossed a red line." UEFA said, "The minimum one-match automatic suspension that follows a sending-off is not discretionary and does not require a decision by a competent body," adding, "It is an unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable decision."
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote on his X (formerly Twitter), "Even FIFA is entangled in the corruption of the Trump family," adding, "If the United States wins, fair or unfair, that record will now always carry an asterisk."