It has been four months since Folarin Balogun’s suspension from a red card was lifted in controversial fashion, and its effects remain ongoing.
In the United States Men’s National Team’s Round of 32 World Cup match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun, the USMNT’s best player in the tournament at that point, was given a questionable red card, automatically suspending him for the next game against Belgium.
The day before the match, though, Balogun was ruled eligible to play in the game. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, as the U.S. lost, 4-1.
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President Donald Trump admitted to calling FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of the red card. Infantino and Trump have grown a relationship, which critics say is a conflict of interest.
Well, reports say that FIFA is set to amend the rules that prohibit red-card suspensions during a large meeting on Thursday.
Infantino, eight vice presidents and 28 other members will meet for the first time since the World Cup, and that’s hardly the only controversy surrounding Infantino and FIFA.
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Nine days after the World Cup final, FIFA proposed details of a company called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) that would allow private investors to buy shares in the World Cup, a secret plan that was widely criticized and rejected, and then quickly scrapped.
Balogun admitted to CBS he “could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves” as the controversy brewed further.
“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.
“I think it’s a terrible … if they wouldn’t allow a top player, maybe the best, maybe among the best on the team, to play, I think it would have had a big stain. 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.”
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The president was awarded the first FIFA Peace Prize at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., during the World Cup final draw in December. The prize will also be reviewed at Thursday’s meeting.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos, Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
