FIFA is expected to revisit its rules on red-card suspensions at a meeting Thursday, four months after President Donald Trump personally intervened to have a red card against U.S. forward Folarin Balogun overturned during the World Cup.
Balogun received a questionable red card in the United States Men’s National Team’s Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would have automatically barred him from the following match against Belgium. The day before that game, however, he was ruled eligible to play. The U.S. went on to lose the match 4-1.
Trump has confirmed he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request a review of the red card, a move critics have described as a conflict of interest given the close relationship between the two men.
“All I did was I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “And, again, I’m good at this stuff. I didn’t think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes who crashed into each other and got entangled. That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything, that would be different.”
Trump added that he believes blocking a top player from competing would have left “a terrible” stain on the tournament, and said he did not direct the outcome himself.
“I relayed it. I didn’t tell him what to do. I don’t believe he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision because, No. 1, it wasn’t a foul, and you want to see a game with your best players.”
Balogun later told CBS that the episode created visible tension within the squad, saying he “could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves” as the controversy grew.
Thursday’s meeting will bring together Infantino, eight vice presidents and 28 other FIFA members for the first time since the World Cup concluded, and the red-card rule is not the only item facing scrutiny.
Nine days after the World Cup final, FIFA proposed a plan for a company called FIFA Forward Enterprise that would have allowed private investors to buy shares in the World Cup. The proposal was widely criticized, rejected, and quickly scrapped.
The meeting will also review the FIFA Peace Prize, which was awarded to Trump at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., during the World Cup final draw in December.
