Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason doesn't often criticize Donald Trump, but he was strongly against something the president did this week.
Prior to Monday night's World Cup match between Belgium and the United States, FIFA announced that it was suspended U.S. striker Folarin Balogun's red card. It turns out Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino and asked him to review the red card that Balogun received in the Round of 32 against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"All I did was ask for a review. I didn't say, you have to do this," Trump said at a White House media briefing. "This man is a smart, tough man, Gianni Infantino. He's a smart, tough man, and his stock has gone through the roof because the job he has done has been great. I feel like we have to have all the best players on the field."
Balogun's presence didn't exactly matter for the USMNT considering they lost 4-1 to Belgium on home soil.
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During this Tuesday's episode of "Boomer & Gio," Esiason explained why he wasn't a fan of Trump getting involved in Balogun
"This is the thing that I don't like because this is corruption. This is the stuff that leads to people not trusting anybody. And I hate the politics side of all of this but we know that politics are involved in everything. And I do hate the fact that the president ended up calling in a favor, but highlighting the fact that we feel like our guy was mistreated when Lionel Messi was not treated the same way in a previous game," Esiason said, via PFSN.
"So, this goes on back and forth. It's country pride, it's international pride. It's FIFA that is considered as corrupt a group of people as you can ever expect to be corrupt in this arena of international sport. I hate the fact that the president got himself involved in this."
Serious motivation for Belgium.
After Monday's match went final, Belgium's official X account posted this message: "Overturn this." There's no question that was a jab at Trump and the USMNT.
It's also worth noting that Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was caught doing Trump's signature dance after putting his country up 4-1 in the final minutes of the match.
We'll get to see Belgium back in action Friday for a quarterfinal match against Spain.
