“I didn’t tell him to do”.. “All I did was ask him for a review” this said U.S. President Donald Trump as he spoke on FIFA’s decision to suspend a one-match ban for U.S. men’s soccer player Folarin Balogun following his red card.

Balogun was sent off for dangerous tackle on Bosnia & Herzegovina player Tarik Muharemovic during a round-of-32 match last week.

While addressing the media on Monday, Trump stated he had no influence in the outcome of the decision made by FIFA. Noting that he only asked the Federation’s President Giovanni Infantino and his team to check if the challenge was worthy of the booking, which would’ve seen him excluded from their fixture against Belgium.

“All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I’m good at this stuff. I didn’t think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

President Trump also stated his understanding that decision’s like these are controlled by committee and not by an individual.

Trump added that he thinks that reviewed verdict was a good decision noting that the on-field call was poor in that circumstance and would’ve robbed the upcoming clash of a great duel.

“I think they made a really brilliant decision. I think the referee’s call was horrible and nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it’s fine, nobody talks the referee’s decision to red card.”

The situation of potential Political interference has dominated the lead up of USA’s quarter-final clash against European giants on Monday, with both Belgium and UEAFA (Union of European Football Federations) issuing statements condemning the decision.

Given the level of global scrutiny and potential future backlash surrounding Balogun’s availability, It remains in unclear if Mauricio Pochettino will include the striker in the highly charged fixture tonight.