{"id":918074,"date":"2026-07-07T11:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/all-i-did-was-ask-for-a-review-trump-denies-demanding-fifa-for-a-review-of-folarin-baloguns-world-cup-red-card\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T11:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:14:15","slug":"all-i-did-was-ask-for-a-review-trump-denies-demanding-fifa-for-a-review-of-folarin-baloguns-world-cup-red-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/all-i-did-was-ask-for-a-review-trump-denies-demanding-fifa-for-a-review-of-folarin-baloguns-world-cup-red-card\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018All I did was ask for a review\u2019: Trump denies demanding FIFA for a review of Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump on Monday took credit for getting FIFA to\u00a0review a red card<\/a>\u00a0issued against the United States\u2019 star forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup but said he did not demand an outcome.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll I did was ask for a review,\u201d Trump said when asked about it during an unrelated Oval Office event. \u201cI didn\u2019t say, \u2018You have to do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for a second look at\u00a0the punishment<\/a>\u00a0against Balogun in\u00a0the United States\u2019 2-0 win<\/a>\u00a0against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. But he said FIFA made the final call to lift Balogun\u2019s mandatory one-game ban for a foul tackle, allowing him to play in Monday\u2019s round of 16 match with Belgium in Seattle.<\/p>\n

FIFA\u2019s decision to suspend the one-game ban was celebrated by many in the United States but brought\u00a0condemnation in the international sports world<\/a>, where some called it an improper intrusion.<\/p>\n

In remarks on Monday, Trump called the referee\u2019s decision a \u201chorrible\u201d call. He added that it would have been a stain on the tournament if Balogun, the U.S.\u2019 leading scorer at this year\u2019s World Cup with three goals, was held out against Belgium and the U.S. lost. He praised FIFA for making what he described as a brilliant decision in suspending\u00a0the punishment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was a foul,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republican president, who said he understands sports \u201creally well,\u201d acknowledged that he did not initially know what a red card is or the consequences it brings. When he learned it would lead to a one-game suspension for Balogun, he said, he decided to step in. He also took issue with the use of video review to issue the red card, arguing that slowed-down reviews can make plays look aggressive.<\/p>\n

Among those joining Trump for the Oval Office event was Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who thanked Trump for stepping in.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cIt was spectacular. There was a reason the FIFA trophy sat here for as long as it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz appeared to be referring to a White House event last year at which Infantino visited and brought the World Cup trophy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Subscribe to\u00a0Fortune Gulf Brief<\/strong>. Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world\u2019s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it. Sign up here.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n The Associated Press, Collin Binkley<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump on Monday took credit for getting FIFA to\u00a0review a red card\u00a0issued against the United States\u2019 star forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup but said he did not demand an outcome. \u201cAll I did was ask for a review,\u201d Trump said when asked about it during an unrelated Oval Office event. \u201cI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":918075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38541,661],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-918074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-all","category-review"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}