US Ambassador to Belgium Bill White has dismissed suggestions that President Donald Trump meddled in FIFA’s decision to clear American striker Folarin Balogun to face Belgium later tonight.
On Monday, he offered a full-throated defence of the US president despite mounting concern over one of the World Cup’s most contentious disciplinary reversals.
"President Trump would never interfere with the inner workings of FIFA," White told The Brussels Times.
The claim will be met with scepticism after reports that Trump personally contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino over Balogun’s red card before FIFA took the unprecedented step of suspending the striker’s automatic ban.
"President Trump thanked FIFA after the fact," White said. "It was very clear to most football fans worldwide that the red card was unnecessarily issued."
"When you are having the world championship it’s very good to continuously review important decisions so that the games are fair. The stakes are too high for a wrong decision," he added.
"I commend the referees at FIFA for something that they, not anyone else, felt needed correcting."
That version of events is unlikely to reassure Belgian fans, or anyone already uneasy about Infantino’s closeness to Trump.
Balogun, the USA’s top scorer at the tournament, was sent off during the 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina for serious foul play. Under World Cup rules, that should have meant an automatic suspension for Monday night’s last-16 match against Belgium in Seattle.
Folarin Balogun playing of the USA. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Instead, FIFA announced on Sunday that the ban had been suspended for a year, making Balogun available.
The timing has fuelled the scandal. CBS News reported that Trump called Infantino directly, while The Guardian reported that he made three calls to FIFA. Other senior US officials also raised the case.
Trump then thanked FIFA in a Truth Social post for "doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice" — a comment that appeared to confirm he believed his intervention had worked.
It is worth adding, however, that there is no evidence Trump even watched the game. And although the US is co-hosting the tournament, with 78 of the 104 matches taking place in the country, Trump has yet to appear in person at any of the matches.
Belgium appeal
Since the announcement, FIFA has offered no detailed reasoning, citing Article 27 of its disciplinary code. The provision has never previously been used to lift a suspension from a red card at a World Cup.
Belgium has appealed, though the challenge is unlikely to succeed before kick-off, scheduled at 02:00 CET. The Belgian FA has demanded access to the referee’s report and FIFA’s reasoning, saying the decision contradicts the competition rules.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia compared the affair to an April Fool’s joke.
"The Belgian football federation defends football, integrity and ethics," he said. "To my knowledge, this is the first time such a decision has been made."
The broader concern is not simply whether Balogun’s red card was harsh, as many thought. It is whether the rules can be bent after a call from the president of the tournament’s most powerful co-host.
The case has revived criticism of Infantino’s relationship with Trump, including the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize, widely seen as an attempt to flatter a president angered by his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
And for critics, the Balogun affair has the ring of something more serious: a governing body appearing to reward political pressure.
White, however, showed no such doubt. And although he will not attend the match in person, he said he would watch it with his husband at the embassy in Brussels. "Bryan and I and all of our 'co-Patriots' in Belgium are looking forward to watching the game this evening," he said. "Now may THE best team, which of course is the USA, win!"
