Trump Says Defeat to Belgium Would Be Rigged

United States President Donald Trump has said that if the US loses to Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16, he would call it "rigged." He compared this to his claims about the 2020 US presidential election.

Trump made these comments while discussing the issues surrounding the US team's preparations for their match on Monday in Seattle. This was during an event in the Oval Office in Washington to launch "Trump Accounts," a new investment scheme for children.

He said, "This game would have a big mark on it. If we lost, if we won, no matter what happened, you have to let them use their best players. And the game tonight’s gonna be amazing, and we’re gonna have a full team, and Belgium’s gonna have a full team."

He continued, "And you know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud. The other way, if they beat us, we’ll say it was, I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020, but I won’t get into that."

Trump also mentioned that he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of a red card given to US forward Folarin Balogun. He insisted he did not influence the decision.

"I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul," he explained. He added that he "didn’t know what the hell a red card was" before this situation.

Balogun is seen as one of the key players for the US team. He received a red card during the Round of 32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Santa Clara, California, last Wednesday.

According to FIFA rules, a red card means an automatic one-match suspension without appeal. This would have meant he could not play in Monday's match against Belgium in Seattle.

The New York Times reported that Trump contacted Infantino last Wednesday to ask him to review the red card decision.

FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee later suspended the ban for a one-year probation period. They referred to Article 27 of their disciplinary code, which allows for the full or partial suspension of a disciplinary measure.

This decision was the first such reversal of a red-card suspension in over 60 years of World Cup history. It faced strong criticism from UEFA, the governing body of European football. They said FIFA had "crossed a red line" and called the decision "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable."