FIFA defends Balogun decision

Trump calls red card U-turn 'brilliant'

WASHINGTON:

FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended world soccer's disciplinary process on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump praised FIFA's decision to suspend Folarin Balogun's World Cupred-card ban, while Belgium challenged the striker's eligibility and criticism spread across football and politics.

Infantino said FIFA's judicial bodies operated "independently and autonomously" and that he had told Trump the Balogun case was subject to an ongoing legal process, even as the US President described the decision to reinstate the United States striker as "brilliant" after personally urging FIFA to review the case.

The affair has become the tournament's biggest controversy, drawing condemnation from UEFA, which said FIFA had "crossed a red line", the Royal Belgian Football Association, senior coaches, football officials and politicians, with critics arguing FIFA had undermined confidence in its own disciplinary system.

It also prompted the Belgians, who play the US later on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals, to challenge Balogun's eligibility for the match. The player was sent off for a tackle during the U.S. win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a punishment that usually carries an automatic one-match ban.

"He (Balogun) didn't do anything wrong and he is our best player," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday. "When they take your best player and say 'You can't play' it's very unfair."

"I think they made a really brilliant decision," Trump said. "I asked for a review. If they would not allow a top player to play I think it (the World Cup) would have had a big stain. I related that feeling."

Trump also questioned the quality of refereeing by Brazil's Raphael Claus, who had sent Balogun off, saying he was "a little bit suspect if you check his past." He did not elaborate.

Infantino later confirmed the call but said he explained to Trump that FIFA's judicial bodies operated independently.