MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The FIFA World Cup was supposed to be a celebration here in the U.S. - a showcase of world-class soccer and a showcase of the country to tourists from around the globe. Now, though, there is a cloud of controversy over what should have been the most exciting and important game for the U.S. men's national team in a quarter century. That game is still kicking off tonight. NPR's sports correspondent Becky Sullivan is still in Seattle for it, and she's on the line now. Hey, Becky.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: OK. So the stakes here - President Trump has weighed in. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has weighed in. Senators...
SULLIVAN: Sure has.
KELLY: ...Are weighing in. Just explain what exactly is happening.
SULLIVAN: Yeah. You know, this is all about a red card that was given to this player on the U.S. team, striker Folarin Balogun, last week during the team's last game that was against Bosnia Herzegovina. And with that red card usually comes an automatic one-game suspension in the next game for that player. That would have normally caused Balogun to miss today's game against Belgium. The stakes, of course, are huge, as you were saying. This is the Round of 16. It's the World Cup.
And I think, to players on the U.S. team and to many American fans and certainly to these officials that you've just named, the red card felt unfair. It felt extreme. The contact between Balogun and this other player was not intentional, like you sometimes often see with many red cards. But still, a red card, Mary Louise, is a normal part of soccer, and what has followed is not. So first, there was FIFA's highly unusual decision to allow Balogun to play in today's game. Then the news of President Trump's phone call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to request that FIFA review this play. Now, you have Rubio - this one was a joke - but Rubio saying he might raise it at a NATO meeting tomorrow.
KELLY: Oh, wow.
SULLIVAN: All of this is extraordinary.
KELLY: It is indeed extraordinary. OK. So President Trump is not denying that he made this call...
SULLIVAN: No.
KELLY: ...To the head of FIFA. He said outright today at the White House, yeah. I called him.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes. I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who's highly respected, and by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold. And it was good before this started. But, you know, he really pushed it in this country. I'm the one that got them to do it.
KELLY: Becky, President Trump also called the red card and the suspension, and I quote, "very unfair." I mean, as you sat there listening, what did you make of that?
SULLIVAN: I mean, you know, I already used this word, extraordinary, but truly, it is genuinely wild. And, you know, I think it's hard to know exactly what Trump is taking credit for here. Obviously, the president has a long track record of taking credit for things that he feels good about. But either way, these comments are an obvious problem for FIFA. Their regulations are quite clear that member associations and football confederations are supposed to avoid any form of political interference.
And so after Trump made these comments today, Infantino put out his own statement. He acknowledged that the phone call with Trump had taken place. But he said that he had explained to the president, on the call, that FIFA's independent legal process was doing its own thing, essentially. That this - any review of Balogun's call would be decided in due course. And he underscored that FIFA's judicial bodies are independent and operate autonomously. And I'll say, too, the U.S. soccer officials that I have spoken to also sort of underlined that they were following FIFA's typical process to raise questions and challenges of disciplinary decisions based on rules and regulations set up by...
KELLY: Yeah.
SULLIVAN: ...FIFA. And so you kind of have both of these sides kind of saying a little bit of a different thing.
KELLY: But there are still all these questions about whether this counts as political interference. Do we know how this could affect the game today?
SULLIVAN: Well, Balogun is playing today. He is the U.S. team's leading scorer at this World Cup. He has scored three goals so far. Belgium is certainly not happy that he's on the field. I think the reality is, if the U.S. wins this game, Mary Louise, this is certainly going to be something that people remember, to continue to talk about. If the Americans lose, maybe this controversy just dissipates. On the other hand, maybe it won't. I mean, today, you had the European Confederation, UEFA, say that FIFA had, quote, "crossed a red line with this decision." And so it's definitely possible that the fallout could continue no matter what happens.
KELLY: We've got about 30 seconds left, but can we talk about actual soccer? What are you expecting...
SULLIVAN: Sure.
KELLY: ...To see tonight?
SULLIVAN: (Laughter) Yeah. I mean, Belgium is the toughest opponent the U.S. has faced yet in this World Cup. There's certainly no guarantee of a win. Belgium is ranked higher than the U.S. by FIFA. They're a European powerhouse. U.S. has struggled with them in the past, including in a friendly just this past March that the U.S. lost 5 to 2. This game today should be exciting either way, despite everything hanging over it.
KELLY: NPR's Becky Sullivan reporting from Seattle - thanks so much.
SULLIVAN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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