'Pure sociopathy' George Conway reacts to Trump's comments on the FIFA World Cup being rigged

President Donald Trump on Monday publicly confirmed for the first time that he personally asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review the red card shown to USA striker Folarin Balogun. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he believed the dismissial and the subsequent one-match ban were unfair and that, had it not been overturned, he would have labeled the match rigged, "just like the 2020 elections were rigged," according to him. The comments drew sharp criticism, with former Republican turned Trump critic George Conway calling the comments an example of "sociopathy". 

On Monday, the president was asked about his alleged role in FIFA overturning the suspension of Balogun, and after admitting he spoke to Infantino regarding the suspension, he added that while he felt the decision was unfair, he did not pressure FIFA to overturn it. “This game would have a big mark on it if we lost, if we won– no matter what happened,” Trump said. “You have to let them use their best players, and the game tonight’s going to be amazing. And we’re gonna have a full team, and Belgium’s gonna have a full team. And you know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud. The other way, if they beat us, we’ll say it was– I say it was rigged just like the election was rigged in 2020, but I won’t get into that,” the president remarked. Sharing a clip of him on X, Conway wrote: "Pure Sociopathy". 

The intervention by the president of a World Cup host nation prompted an angry response from the international football community, including from Belgium, who faced the USA on Monday night in the round of 16  for a place in the quarter-finals. Balogun, who received a straight red card in the round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was met with widespread outrage domestically. While FIFA's disciplinary code says a straight red card can't be appealed, in a surprise announcement on Sunday the governing body said Balogun’s suspension was revoked under a special provision, allowing him to play on Monday, The Guardian reported.

The move opened a Pandora's box as the view of Team USA seemingly changed in the eyes of football fans who were on the verge of falling in love with them. While most eagerly waited for the nation to bring glory, those expectations were marred by questions of fairness and propriety. The European game's governing body, UEFA, also issued a furious statement alleging that FIFA crossed a "red line" by making an  “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” decision to rescind Balogun’s automatic one-match ban, claiming it undermined the “integrity of the game and the credibility of the competition”.

Nevertheless, both Belgium and the USA faced off on Monday with full teams in the knockout match in the round of 16. Unfortunately for the American fans, their dreams of watching their team lift the World Cup ended as Belgium won 4-1 to proceed to the quarter-finals. With this, the U.S.'s dream of changing how the world views American soccer ended, at the same stage as it did in the last three World Cups.