Folarin Balogun has finally spoken. And his words are as honest as the controversy around him has been loud.The United States striker admitted this week that he knew President Donald Trump‘s intervention to overturn his one-game World Cup suspension would create significant controversy and that the fallout visibly affected his teammates in the days before the Round of 16 clash against Belgium.Balogun was shown a straight red card during the USMNT’s Round of 32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina for a tackle on Tarik Muharemovic. FIFA’s disciplinary committee subsequently suspended the one-match ban for 12 months, a decision that came after Trump publicly admitted he had personally intervened on behalf of Balogun and the United States co-hosts. The move drew immediate and fierce criticism from football fans, players and governing bodies around the world.Now, speaking to CBS, Balogun has addressed it all directly.“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something so unique,” Balogun said. “The closer we got to the game I tried to focus as best I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”Balogun was clear that his teammates rallied around him throughout the storm. “They gave me a lot of reassurance,” he said. “It wasn’t something I could change. It was just a situation that was unfortunate, which gave me confidence.”On the red card itself, Balogun remains adamant it was the wrong call. “I was in shock. It wasn’t even a tackle. When something’s not intentional it should never be a red card. It put a lot more pressure on us than we needed,” he said. The United States went on to lose 2-1 to Belgium in the Round of 16, with Balogun starting the match. FIFA has still offered no public explanation for why the ban was suspended.The controversy, meanwhile, has escalated well beyond football. On Tuesday, human rights group FairSquare submitted a formal complaint to the International Olympic Committee, alleging that FIFA president Gianni Infantino, an IOC member since 2020, breached the Olympic charter and the IOC’s code of ethics in his handling of the Balogun affair.
