Nigeria, July 6 -- United States President Donald Trump has explained why he asked FIFA to review the red card shown to American striker Folarin Balogun, saying the decision would have unfairly denied one of the team's best players the chance to feature in a crucial World Cup knockout match.

Speaking to reporters after FIFA suspended the implementation of Balogun's automatic one-match ban, Mr Trump defended his intervention, insisting the incident that led to the striker's dismissal was simply an accidental collision between two players.

"I saw the play," Mr Trump said. "I'm a person who loves sports and was a good athlete. I understand sports really well. That wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running ful...