President Donald Trump on Sunday thanked football’s world governing body Fifa for suspending the red card issued to USA’s Folarin Balogun, paving the way for the striker to play in a last-16 World Cup showdown against Belgium.
Balogun was set to miss the match on Monday after being shown a straight red card in the last-32 game against Bosnia-Herzegovina for stepping on the foot of defender Tarik Muharemovic as the co-hosts won 2-0.
Fifa said Sunday the ban will be suspended for a year.
“Thank you to Fifa for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Balogun has been key to the USA’s progress in the tournament and his absence against Belgium would have been a blow to the team.
Fifa said in a statement: “In line with Article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year.”
After the red card, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called for the card to be rescinded.
