New Donald Trump World Cup row explodes overnight as fresh FIFA revelations emerge

Donald Trump enlisted a whole team of people, including lawyers, to get Folarin Balogun's red card overturned during the World Cup, it has been revealed. FIFA's decision to suspend the USA striker's one-game ban sparked uproar throughout the football world and was arguably the tournament's most controversial moment. Balogun was shown a red card for a foul during his team's victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, which should have ruled him out of their subsequent match against Belgium.

However, his ban was suspended for a one-year probationary period after Trump put pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino behind the scenes. Previously unknown details have since been revealed by talkSPORT, with the nature of Trump's intervention going far beyond what was initially reported. It's claimed that he was on the phone to Infantino within 24 hours of Balogun's sending-off, and that a specialist White House team was assembled to help him achieve his goal.

The report states that Andrew Giuliani, head of the World Cup task force, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and hedge fund manager Scott Goodwin all worked with US Soccer to present a case.

It's also said that Trump-affiliated lawyers were drafted in to argue that VAR's excessive use of slow motion and still imagery misrepresented the incident.

The report adds that Trump was informed by several aides that referee Raphael Claus was accused of issuing irregular cards in 2023 by Botafogo owner John Textor.

It prompted him to describe Claus as "a little bit suspect" despite the fact that FIFA and Brazilian authorities found no wrongdoing on the part of the official.

FIFA's referee chief Pierluigi Collina was quick to publicly defend Claus, describing him as "an experienced and highly respected referee" and insisting the governing body maintained "full confidence in him as a trusted match official".

During the lobbying process, it's said that Infantino personally guaranteed Trump that he would look into the matter of getting Balogun's ban overturned.