Washington: President Donald Trump said on Monday he asked FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review a red-card foul against USA striker Folarin Balogun and that he did not think the foul called by the "horrible" referee was fair.
"All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn't think it was a foul," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
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The unprecedented move has thrust FIFA's disciplinary process into the global spotlight and prompted an angry response from Belgium, who play the U.S. on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Trump said the incident that got Balogun the red card was simply a case of two athletes colliding and he raised questions about the fairness of the referee who called the foul.
"I saw the play," Trump said. "That wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running whole speed that happened to crash into each other."
He said FIFA made a "really brilliant decision" to suspend the red card. "I think the referee's call was horrible," he said.
Trump said all he did was ask for a review. "I didn't tell them what to do. I can't tell them what to do," he said.
He said it was important for team USA to have its best players on the field.
