US Soccer Star Folarin Balogun Admits Controversy Over Trump’s Involvement at World Cup Made Things ‘Difficult’ for Team
U.S. men’s soccer star Folarin Balogun admitted President Donald Trump’s role in getting his red card suspended made things “difficult” for the team.
Balogun was given a red card in the U.S.’s round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup. The red card triggered an automatic one-match suspension, meaning Balogun — the team’s top player — would miss the round of 16 match against Belgium.
Amid the wave of outrage over the red card, Trump reached out to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of the play. Upon review, FIFA decided to suspend the red card and allow Balogun to play. The U.S. went on to lose in humiliating fashion.
Speaking about the situation on CBS Mornings, Balogun said he was happy to be able to rejoin the team. He knew, however, that it would come with a great deal of controversy. He added:
My initial reaction was, you know, I was happy to be back in the team. But when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it’s something that’s so unique. But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult, you know? A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.
Watch above via CBS
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