FIFA overturned the suspension of US national team striker Folarin Balogun after Donald Trump called the organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, Reuters reports.
Balogun received a red card in the World Cup round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina for a rough foul on a defender and was sent off.
The US won the match 2:0 and advanced to the round of 16, where it will play Belgium. Under the rules, a sending-off automatically carries a suspension for the next match, so Balogun was supposed to miss the game.
After the match, Trump called Infantino and asked him to review the red-card decision.
US President Donald Trump holds a red card during a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. August 28, 2018.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the player’s ban and placed him on probation for one year.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing the right thing and correcting a glaring injustice!” Trump said.
A New York Post source confirmed that Trump and Infantino had spoken. According to the source, the US president wanted to understand why Balogun had been shown a red card and why it was followed by a suspension.
The Belgian football federation said it was “shocked by FIFA’s decision,” which “directly contradicts the regulations of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”