Ahead of Team USA’s Round of 16 loss to Belgium, President Donald Trump said his call with FIFA president Gianni Infantino had no bearing on the reversal of USA’s Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension. While answering a reporter, the POTUS said, “What I did do is say, ‘I think that should be reviewed,'” and then justified his thought process by comparing it to Alyssa Thomas’s flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark, which he felt was a more serious incident.

“You’ve got to look at it. By the way, if he did, I’d probably feel differently if he punched him in the face or did something wrong… 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. Two people ran into each other.”

On June 24, during the second of their two back-to-back games with the Fever, Thomas made contact with Caitlin Clark’s on a non-basketball play that officials never called in real time.

They later reviewed the foul, and on June 25, the WNBA flagged Thomas for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.” However, unlike Balogun, Thomas was penalized by the WNBA. She served a one-game suspension, missing the very game after their two-game series with the India Fever.

In contrast, Balogun was shown a straight red card during the USMNT’s 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.

Gianni Infantino later dispelled speculation about the call with the POTUS with a statement ahead of the Round of 16 game.

“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,” the FIFA President said in his statement.

Meanwhile, one of the reasons why the Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas incident remains relevant is because it went beyond the court. Even a week after the incident, when Thomas had already served her suspension, the Phoenix Mercury star explained that she was facing extreme harassment and even threats on social media.

That whipped up a debate that didn’t spare anyone, from the players to the Indiana Fever’s coach, the league and its officiating, and Caitlin Clark, who voiced her opinion on July 3.

Caitlin Clark stood up for Thomas and the entire league

The past two 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 harassment.

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