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Jun 14, 2026; Washington, D.C., UNITED STATES; President Donald Trump stands in the octagon during UFC Freedom 250 at White House South Lawn. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
Monday night’s World Cup round of 16 match between the United States and Belgium had some added tension in the lead-up thanks in large part to United States President Donald Trump inserting himself into a controversial FIFA decision that allowed United States striker Folarin Balogun to play despite receiving a red card in the previous match.
While the United States may have won a short-term victory with Balogun’s eligibility, the whole situation seems to have done some long-term damage to the team and the country’s reputation, leading to one former NFL MVP to speak out against the move.
Donald Trump Involved in Balogun Situation
In a rather stunning turn of events, FIFA announced on Sunday that Balogun, who was expected to miss the match against Belgium with an automatic suspension after receiving a red card in the previous match, would be eligible to play after FIFA suspended his punishment.
It was a nearly unprecedented move that quickly sparked outrage throughout the sports world, especially once Trump confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to look into the matter, resulting in some Americans even throwing their support behind Belgium instead of the USMNT.
Belgium protested the decision, even warning the United States that if Balogun was in the lineup on Monday, that would leave “all further actions open.” Belgium manager Rudi Garcia went as far as to compare the decision to April Fools’ Day during his pre-match press conference.
‘This is the corruption’
While the situation might have worked out for the United States as Balogun returned to the lineup, not everyone was happy with Trump getting himself involved in the situation, as former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason expressed his displeasure at Trump’s involvement.
“This is the thing I don’t like,” Esiason said of Trump on his WFAN morning radio show this week via Awful Announcing. “Because this is the corruption, this is the stuff that leads to people not trusting anybody. I hate the politics side of all of this, but we all know politics are involved in everything. And I do hate the fact that the president ended up calling in. I don’t want to say a favor, but highlighting the fact that we feel our guy was mistreated when Lionel Messi was not treated the same way… or Cristiano Ronaldo was supposed to be suspended, but all of a sudden, his suspension went away.”
It’s not clear whether or not Trump’s phone call to Infantino played a role in FIFA’s decision, but the optics were not good. For that reason, Esiaison does not think that Trump should have gotten involved.
“It’s country pride, it’s international pride, it’s FIFA that is considered about as corrupt as any group of people that you can ever expect to be corrupt in this arena of international sport,” Esiason continued. “I hate the fact that the president got himself involved in this.”
As it stands, however, Trump did get involved, and the United States is going to have to live with the hit to its reputation.
The post ‘This is the corruption’: Former NFL MVP ‘hates’ Donald Trump’s World Cup move appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.
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