АНУ-ын Ерөнхийлөгч Дональд Трамп хөлбөмбөгийн ДАШТ-ий шөвгийн 16-гийн тоглолтын өмнө ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Жанни Инфантино руу утасдаж, АНУ-ын шигшээ багийн довтлогч Фларин Балогуны улаан хуудсыг хянуулах хүсэлт тавьснаа хүлээн зөвшөөрлөө.
Босни ба Херцеговины эсрэг тоглолтод улаан хуудас авсан Балогуны торгуулийг ФИФА ням гарагт буюу Бельгийн эсрэг тоглолтын өмнөхөн цуцалсан нь олон улсын хэмжээнд ихээхэн маргаан дагуулаад байна. АНУ-ын засаг захиргаа болон хуульчид энэхүү шийдвэрийг гаргахын тулд ФИФА-д шахалт үзүүлсэн гэх мэдээлэл байгаа ч албаны хүмүүс үүнийг бие даасан сахилгын хорооны шийдвэр хэмээн тайлбарлав.
Трамп уг үйлдлээ шилдэг тоглогчид тоглох ёстой гэсэн байр сууринаас тайлбарлаж, шүүгч Рафаэль Клаусын гаргасан шийдвэрийг үндэслэлгүй хэмээн шүүмжилсэн юм. Түүнийг дагалдсан сенатор Тед Круз ерөнхийлөгчийн энэхүү оролцоог олон нийтийн өмнө талархан хүлээн авчээ.
Ерөнхийлөгч өөрийн тайлбартаа хөлбөмбөгийн дүрэм болон улаан хуудсын талаар хангалттай мэдлэггүй ч, шилдэг тоглогчдыг тоглолтоос хасах нь тэмцээний нэр хүндэд сэв суулгана гэж үзсэнээ онцолсон байна. Тэрээр Месси, Роналдо, Харри Кэйн нарын жишээг дурдан, шигшээ багууд өөрсдийн шилдэг бүрэлдэхүүнтэйгээр шударгаар өрсөлдөх нь чухал гэдгийг мэдэгджээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
U.S. President Donald Trump, within an eight-minute rant about the Folarin Balogun red card saga, confirmed Monday morning that he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino last week to ask for a review of the USMNT striker’s suspension.
Balogun received the red card in last week’s U.S. World Cup game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning he would be banned for the national soccer team’s round-of-16 game against Belgium. But on Sunday — one day before the match — FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, essentially rescinded the suspension, sparking controversy throughout the soccer world.
Trump’s involvement has led to accusations of government overreach and American favoritism.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office at an unrelated event, was asked about his role in getting the ban rescinded, and said within a long answer full of tangents: “I did (call Infantino), I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul.”
He later added: “If they wouldn’t allow the top player, maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the (U.S.) team, to play, I think it would’ve had a big stain (on the World Cup). And I related just that feeling — I didn’t tell him what to do, I can’t tell him what to do. And I don’t believe he made the decision, I think it was a committee that made the decision.”
Multiple people familiar with the process have attempted to downplay Trump’s involvement, in part because it has further inflamed the controversy. FIFA has said that the decision was made by an independent disciplinary committee.
But sources have also told The Athletic that the Trump administration and lawyers it recruited were part of a coordinated lobbying effort that put pressure on FIFA to rule in Balogun’s favor.
Politico reported Sunday night that Emilio García Silvero, FIFA’s chief legal and compliance officer, subsequently advised Infantino on the available procedural options and, together with other FIFA officials, worked to determine whether Balogun’s ban could be revisited.
Trump, when asked a follow-up question about the dubious precedent that his involvement sets, said: “I had nothing to do with the decision. What I did have to do is, I said, I think this should be reviewed. Because I watched the play. (Balogun) didn’t do anything wrong.”
Later at the same Oval Office event, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Trump: “On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card.”
Trump reacted with a cheeky smile. Cruz then continued: “It was spectacular. There was a reason the FIFA trophy sat here for as long as it did.” The latter point was a reference to the World Cup trophy’s presence in the Oval Office in the buildup to the tournament, part of a years-long cozy relationship between Trump and Infantino.
Trump, at Monday’s event, waded further into the controversy by calling the referee, Raphael Claus of Brazil, who initially issued Balogun’s red card “suspect,” and by implying that star players should get favorable treatment in situations like this one.
He first gave his account of Wednesday night. “So, I saw the play … And I understand sports really well, really well. And that wasn’t a foul,” Trump said. “That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other. You can’t take your foot and properly place it on somebody else’s foot when you’re going — no, these were two great athletes that got tangled up.
“And this referee — who is a little bit suspect, if you check his past — I don’t like to say that, because I don’t like to create controversy, but very suspect; if you’d like I’ll provide you with the past — he made a call that nobody could believe.”
Trump later said multiple times that he didn’t know what a red card meant or “didn’t know what the hell a red card was.” But he insisted that Balogun didn’t deserve one, and said he felt it would’ve been unjust for the forward to miss the Belgium game.
“I started hearing it means he can’t play in the next game, at least the next game,” Trump explained. “I said, ‘Boy, that’s a big’ — you know, if it happened to another player, it would’ve been unfair, but when they take your best player or just about … and they say, ‘You can’t play,’ that’s very unfair.”
After long tangents about the World Cup broadly, Trump continued: “They made the right decision, because, No. 1, it wasn’t a foul. And you want to see a game with your best players. How would you feel if I took Messi out? You know, he ran into somebody. Or we took Ronaldo? ‘Ronaldo, you bumped into somebody, we’re gonna take you out of a game.’ Or Harry Kane! ‘Harry Kane, we’re gonna take you out of the game, Harry, because you happened to hit somebody a little bit harder.’
“If you would’ve taken (Balogun) out — I think it really would’ve stained this incredible (World Cup).
“We gotta have our best players. And Belgium’s got a great team, by the way. We gotta have our best players, and they have to have their best. And if we win or we lose, it’s fair. Otherwise, let’s say we lost to them (without Balogun), we lose the game, it would be a terrible thing.”
