More Americans oppose than support Donald Trump’s decision to step into the controversy over Folarin Balogun’s overturned World Cup red card, according to a new poll.
The tournament was plunged into dispute earlier this month when Balogun was dismissed during the United States’ last-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1, a call that drew immediate criticism from many fans and soccer analysts.
FIFA then sparked a fresh backlash days later by confirming that the striker’s automatic one-match suspension had been put on hold, clearing him to feature in the USA’s high-stakes last-16 clash with Belgium.
The reprieve ultimately did little to change the outcome. The United States crashed out of its home World Cup with a heavy 4-1 defeat to Belgium, while Balogun struggled to make a meaningful impression. After the loss, the Monaco forward indicated that Trump’s involvement, and the “outside noise” surrounding it, had increased the pressure on the squad.
A Daily Mail poll conducted by public opinion firm JL Partners found that 35 percent of Americans opposed the president lobbying FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to revisit Balogun’s red card, with 27 percent saying they strongly opposed the move.
More Americans opposed Donald Trump intervening in the Folarin Balogun red-card controversy than supported it
FIFA suspended Balogun’s automatic one-game ban after his World Cup sending-off
By comparison, 28 percent said they supported Trump’s actions, while 22 percent were indifferent and a further 15 percent said they were unsure.
When made to choose whether the World Cup or America 250 was better organized, 27 percent opted for the former. Just 14 percent picked the Independence Day celebrations, with 30 percent saying both were equally good and nine percent saying they were equally poor. 21 percent were unsure.
The Balogun drama sparked uproar across the sporting world after it was revealed that Trump had played a part in it, with Belgium’s players and staff left incensed ahead of their last-32 meeting.
The Belgian Football Association launched an appeal to FIFA over the matter shortly after the news was announced, only to discover it had been rejected.
Though controversially, the Belgian FA had claimed – just hours earlier – they did not actually submit the appeal but, rather, had asked FIFA for more information on the matter and claimed that the governing body registered that as an official appeal.
The decision came just hours after Trump revealed he had phoned up Infantino over the matter and implored him to review Balogun’s red card.
‘Yeah, I did, I spoke to Gianni. I asked for a review by FIFA,’ Trump said. ‘That’s all I did. And, you know, again, I’m good at this stuff. That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed who happened to crash into each other.
‘He (Balogun) didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s our best player, or one of our best players, a very vital player and they gave him a red card. I didn’t think it meant much. Then I started hearing that it means you can’t play in the next game, at least in the next game.
The striker was sent off for this challenge during their 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina
But Trump, pictured with Gianni Infantino in 2018, called the FIFA boss to ask him to review Balogun’s red card before it was overturned
Following Trump’s admission that he had called up Infantino over the matter, the FIFA chief offered clarity over the matter through another statement on Monday.
Infantino said: ‘Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues.
‘During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.’
Ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final, which saw Spain claim a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina, Trump took a swipe at those who had criticized FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s red card.
During an event in New York City on Friday, he stood alongside Infantino and backed the FIFA president over his handling of the saga. ‘You made another great decision,’ he said. ‘It was so much better the way it worked out because there’s no controversy: [Belgium] won the game and our team had all of its players.’
Trump then ripped into Infantino’s opponents, adding: ‘You’ll never get credit for it. Think if he didn’t allow [Balogun to play] and they lost.
Last week Trump took aim at those who criticized FIFA’s decision to allow Balogun to play
But the USA striker recently admitted the whole saga put added pressure on his teammates
‘They’d say: “We would have won the game if we had our best player!”‘
The president’s comments came a few days after Balogun appeared on CBS Mornings and admitted the whole saga caused ‘a bit of nerves’ for his teammates when they faced Belgium.
‘My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team. But when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,’ he said.
‘And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it’s something that is so unique. But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could but it was difficult – a lot of outside noise and that’s hard to avoid.’
He added: ‘It was confusing because the team was practicing without me in the team, I’m almost just playing a supporting role to keep morale high.’
