'This is our sport' Jurgen Klopp condemns Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino over Balogun red card appeal

Jurgen Klopp has become the latest high-profile footballing figure to ridicule the decision to overturn the Folarin Balogun red card, hurling harsh words towards Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump.

Following the announcement that Folarin Balogun started for the USA in their Round of 16 game against Belgium, following his red card ban being 'suspended', President Donald Trump claimed it as a personal victory, taking full credit.

The delayed suspension marked a World Cup first, as the White House invoked a team of lawyers to uncover a little-known rule that allowed FIFA to give the green light for Balogun to play.

"I’m the one that got them to do it,” Trump said in a speech at the White House.

“I saw the play, and I’m a person who loves sports. That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. This referee - who is a little bit suspect if you check his past - made a call that nobody could believe. He’s our best player, or one of our best players, and he gave him a red card.

"I didn’t know what the hell a red card was. When I found out, I said: ‘You gotta be kidding!’

“How would you feel if we took [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo or Harry Kane out? We have our best players, and they have to have their best, and if we win or we lose, it’s fair.”

However, this caused outrage across the World Cup competing nations, with the likes of Wayne Rooney launching an on-air attack at FIFA, reciting his own personal pain of being suspended at a key point of an international tournament.

Now, there have been calls for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to step down, despite downplaying any notion of 'manipulation' in favour of the USA, and Jurgen Klopp has become the latest figure to condemn the actions.

Klopp says Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump agreement is 'madness'

As tensions surrounding Infantino's control over football continue to fester,

According to a report from The Telegraph, Klopp called the outcome of the relationship a 'madness' that doesn't belong in football.

"This is our sport, not theirs,” he said.

“If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into question.”

Klopp's comments come as the latest in a string of people to speak out against the decision.

"It hits at one of the beauties of football – the worldwide application across the world of regulations and rules," said former English Football Association chairman David Bernstein.

Even Sepp Blatter spoke out against it, saying, "Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence, and independent bodies.

"If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis, FIFA?

"Football must never become a playground for political power."

Balogun started the game against Belgium, leading the line for Mauricio Pochettino's team alongside Christian Pulisic and Serginio Dest, where he hoped to continue a fruitful goalscoring campaign.