Jurgen Klopp didn’t hold back. Not even a little bit.
The former Liverpool manager, now working as a World Cup pundit for MagentaTV, unloaded on both U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino after FIFA overturned Folarin Balogun’s red card. The U.S. forward was supposed to miss the Round of 16 game against Belgium following a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. But on Sunday, FIFA said the suspension was gone.
Belgium’s federation called the decision ‘astonishing’ and said they were looking into options. According to a report from The Athletic, Trump — who’s friendly with Infantino — called the FIFA boss directly to get the ban lifted. Neither FIFA nor the White House has confirmed that, for what it’s worth.
Klopp didn’t mince words
Klopp saw the whole thing and let his frustration fly. ‘This is our game, not theirs,’ he said, via DPA. ‘If Trump and Infantino really agreed on that, that’s crazy. It calls everything into question. These two people, neither of whom knows anything about football, shouldn’t have anything to do with it at all.’
He argued the red card incident wasn’t even close. ‘There’s no room for debate,’ Klopp said. And even if the call was wrong — which he clearly doesn’t think it was — he pointed out that in soccer, ‘we all suffer from wrong calls. Still, we learn to live with them as we go through life.’
The bigger picture
This isn’t just some random blowup. Klopp is currently the Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull, but he’s also the frontrunner to take over as Germany’s head coach after Julian Nagelsmann was let go. So when he talks about the integrity of the sport, people pay attention.
The timing here is rough for FIFA. The World Cup is already under a microscope, and having a sitting president reportedly lean on the sport’s governing body to change a disciplinary decision is not a great look. Whether that phone call actually happened or not, the perception alone is enough to make people angry.
Belgium is left to stew. They play the U.S. next, and now Balogun is available. The Belgian federation hasn’t said if they’ll appeal or take further action, but they’re clearly not happy. Klopp isn’t either. And he made sure everyone knew it.
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