Donald Trump explains controversial Folarin Balogun red card situation after Gianni Infantino phone call

US President Donald Trump has declared that striker Folarin Balogun's red card dismissal during the World Cup was not worthy of punishment, following a conversation with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.

"I spoke to Gianni... I saw the play. I'm a person that loves sports and was a good athlete. I understand sports really well. Really well. That wasn't a foul. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other," Trump stated.

The 25-year-old forward received a straight red for his challenge on Bosnia-Herzegovina's Tarik Muharemovic in the Americans' 2-0 last-32 victory.

CBS News confirmed the president telephoned Infantino on Thursday regarding the suspension. FIFA subsequently announced the automatic one-match ban would be deferred for twelve months, citing regulations permitting such deferrals but offering no further explanation.

European football's governing body UEFA has responded with fierce criticism, describing FIFA's intervention as "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable."

The organisation stated that effectively cancelling a tournament suspension "crossed a red line."

UEFA emphasised that a one-match ban following a red card is mandatory rather than optional, calling it "a principle embedded in regulations."

"When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined," the governing body declared.

UEFA further warned the ruling establishes a dangerous precedent, noting that comparable incidents during the remainder of the tournament would now demand identical treatment.

This would prove detrimental to the competition's fairness, the organisation added.

The Royal Belgian Football Association announced on Monday it has no choice but to contest Balogun's eligibility for the upcoming knockout fixture.

Belgium's foreign minister Maxime Prevot condemned the decision, stating: "If a phone call is really the reason for this incomprehensible decision, it would be a blatant violation of the most basic rules of football and sport."

The timing proves particularly contentious given Balogun's significance to the American squad. The striker leads the tournament's scoring charts for the co-hosts with three goals.

Trump expressed gratitude to FIFA on Sunday via Truth Social, praising the organisation for "reversing a great injustice."

The last-16 encounter between the United States and Belgium is scheduled for Tuesday at 01:00 BST.

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who departed the role in 2016 amid a corruption scandal before Infantino's appointment, weighed in on the controversy via X.

"Football must never become a playground for political power," Blatter wrote.

Glenn Micallef, the European Union's commissioner for sport, echoed these sentiments, asserting that sporting decisions "belong to sporting bodies, not politicians."

"Influencing sporting decisions would undermine the autonomy of sport," Micallef posted on X. "Our focus should instead be on the real governance challenges facing sport, including the weaponisation of sport for political purposes."

The Balogun case marks only the second instance of a player avoiding suspension following a World Cup red card. The sole previous example was Brazil's Garrincha in 1962, a decision itself surrounded by allegations of political meddling.

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