Trump Confirms He Asked FIFA President to Review U.S. Player’s Suspension

WASHINGTON—President Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to review U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension, a move that set off an uproar among soccer fans across the world.

“All I did, I asked for a review. I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, adding of Infantino, “I can’t tell him what to do.”

FIFA announced on Sunday that it was reversing the suspension, allowing Balogun, the leading goal scorer for the U.S., to play in a highly anticipated round-of-16 match against Belgium on Monday.

Balogun had received a red card for stepping on an opponent’s ankle during Team USA’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a penalty that was accompanied by a one-game ban for the next match. But in a highly unusual move, FIFA cited an arcane rule that allows its Disciplinary Committee to exercise its discretion when reviewing sanctions.

FIFA’s decision faced widespread backlash, appearing to give a huge boost to the host country after years in which Trump and Infantino had developed a cozy relationship. Trump had affectionately called Infantino the “king of soccer” while Infantino had created a FIFA peace prize to award to Trump.

On Monday, the Royal Belgium Football Association assailed how FIFA was handling the matter. It said soccer’s governing body hadn’t provided explanations for the process that led to the decision and wouldn’t even respond to its questions. It added that FIFA “deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation” from a pre-match meeting, even though that same section was included for meetings before the other games.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,” the federation said.

On Monday, Trump called FIFA’s decision to overturn the suspension “brilliant,” and he criticized the referee who gave Balogun a red card during last week’s game. The referee, Trump said, was “a little bit suspect if you check his past.”

The president also took aim at FIFA’s use of slow-motion replay to decide whether Balogun’s stepping on an opponent’s ankle constituted a red-card offense. “They’re not allowed to review in slow motion,” Trump said.

Trump told reporters that he saw the play and initially didn’t know what a red card meant. But he thought it was “very unfair” when he heard that Balogun couldn’t play in the next game.

“That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction,” Trump said. “That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that senior Trump administration officials worked behind the scenes to pressure FIFA to reverse the suspension. Among those involved was Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force.

In a Sunday social-media post, Trump thanked FIFA for “reversing a great injustice.”

Balogun, 25 years old, had emerged as a revelation for the Americans during the tournament. He gave the Americans the lead against Bosnia with his third goal of the World Cup, only to get sent off in the second half following the video review of the incident.

After the match, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino was adamant that Balogun should never have been sent off because it was merely the type of contact that can naturally occur during the course of a game. But once FIFA intervened to overturn the one-game ban that accompanies the red card, Pochettino was placed in an awkward position. He declined to say whether it was appropriate for Trump to intervene, adding it was punishment enough that the U.S. had to finish its game against Bosnia a man down.

“In the end, it’s not that we’re victims,” Pochettino said in Spanish. “But we’re not the bad guys here.”

In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said that both the U.S. and Belgium would have full teams for the game.

“If they beat us, then they can be really proud,” the president said. “The other way, if they beat us, we will say, I’ll say, it was rigged just like the election was rigged in 2020.”

Write to Marianne LeVine at marianne.levine@wsj.com and Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com