Team USA’s FIFA World Cup journey ended in the Round of 16 match against Belgium in a 4-1 loss. However, FIFA reversing USA’s Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension ahead of the game after President Donald Trump’s call with FIFA President Gianni Infantino whipped up a social media storm. While addressing the question of his alleged influence, Trump drew comparisons with the Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas incident.

“I had nothing to do with the decision. What I did do is say, ‘I think that should be reviewed,'” President Trump told the reporter before drawing the comparison with Alyssa Thomas’s flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark on June 24, arguing that was a far more serious foul than Balogun.

“I thought your young, wonderful basketball player, Caitlin—I thought she was treated rather rough, if you want to know the truth. That was a much different kind of an event. That was a pretty bad event. But in this case, he didn’t do anything wrong.”

Balogun was shown a straight red card during the United States’ World Cup Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina after he stepped on Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic’s ankle while chasing the ball at full speed.

However, the narrative that emerged ahead of the game was that the POTUS’s phone call with Infantino had something to do with reversing that ban on Balogun, as the presence of USMNT’s leading scorer would naturally boost the team’s confidence.

Gianni Infantino later dispelled that speculation. “During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold,” Infantino said in his statement after Balogan’s suspension reversal.

Interestingly, Alyssa Thomas did serve the one-match suspension for her flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark. On June 24, during the second of their two back-to-back games with the Fever, Thomas made contact with Caitlin Clark’s throat on a non-basketball play that officials never called in real time.

In late June, the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury met in back-to-back games that became some of the most heated matches of the WNBA season. While the first matchup was already packed with technical fouls and confrontations, the rematch took things a step further after Alyssa Thomas made contact with Caitlin Clark’s throat on a non-basketball play that officials never called in real time.

That missed whistle ignited a firestorm, as fans once again started demanding the resignation of Commissioner Cathy Engelbert because she failed to protect her players.

The WNBA later reviewed the play, upgraded it to a Flagrant 2, and suspended Thomas for one game. By then, the damage was already done. The debate over player safety refused to die down, and the situation grew more extreme as Thomas faced threats and harassment online.

In fact, the Clark-Thomas incident moved beyond what happened on the court and the WNBA’s punishment for Thomas due to the backlash on social media.

Caitlin Clark Broke Her Silence About the Incident and the Online Backlash

The past few weeks have brought several debates around what happened in the Fever-Mercury game on June 24th. However, everyone, including Indiana Fever’s coach, the W, and the person on the receiving end of that foul, Caitlin Clark, condemned the online backlash.

While CC backed the WNBA’s decision to upgrade the play to a Flagrant 2 and the consequences the league officially imposed on her, Clark stood up for Thomas and the entire league.

“As I’ve stood here and said before, the harassment, the hate, none of that is OK,” she told reporters last Friday.

“That goes for the opposing team we play, for my teammates. That goes for my coaches. There should never be a question of character. I’ve always stood up and said that, and that’s truly what I believe. That’s how I was raised. I don’t want anyone to ever experience that.”

In that same game, Caitlin Clark left the court due to a back injury, which has since sidelined her. CC missed the Fever’s 84-68 win over the Las Vegas Aces, but also said she is “really, really positive about getting back for one of the games in the back-to-back,” which could come against either the Los Angeles Sparks on July 8 or the Phoenix Mercury a day later.