This seems far from an ideal precedent being set here…

? Nothing to see here, just Donald Trump essentially telling FIFA to re-write the laws of football… pic.twitter.com/fsWdb13KGv

— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) July 6, 2026

Donald Trump’s statement on Folarin Balogun in full:

“I saw the play, and I understand sports really well. That wasn’t a foul. It wasn’t even an infraction. It was two guys running full speed that happened to run into each other…These were two great athletes that got tangled up and this referee [Raphael Claus], who is a little bit suspect if you check his past [Brazilian authorities and FIFA found no evidence of wrongdoing by Claus, including match-fixing]… I don’t want to say that, because I don’t like to create controversy, but if you like I’ll provide you with his past… He made a call that nobody could believe.

“They are not allowed to review [potential red card incidents] in slow motion because it’s so different… Whereas, when you see it in ‘fast-motion’, it looked like two guys collided, which is exactly what happened. He [Balogun] didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s our best player, or one of our best players.

“I didn’t think a red card meant much, and then I started hearing he can’t play in the next game. Boy, that’s a big… if it happened to another player, it would have been unfair, but when they take your best player, or just about, and they say he can’t play, that’s very unfair. It’s one thing to penalise someone for the game, but how do you penalise them for a game that hasn’t even been played yet? It’s very unfair. You can’t do that. So yes, I asked for a review by FIFA.”