European football’s governing body UEFA has condemned FIFA’s decision to allow banned USA forward Folarin Balogun to play against Belgium in their last-16 World Cup showdown, describing the call ‘unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable’.
FIFA overturned US star striker Folarin Balogun’s red-card ban, after a personal phone call from President Donald Trump.
Balogun had been set to miss Monday’s last-16 knockout clash with the Belgians after receiving a straight red card following video review for stepping on the foot of a Bosnian defender in a round-of-32 clash that the US won 2-0. However, the player will now be available to play in the World Cup co-hosts’ showdown with Belgium after the overturning of the red card decision.
It was gathered that Trump personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino, asking him to review Balogun’s punishment.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after FIFA’s decision.
Belgium have appealed to FIFA in a bid to reinstate the ban on Balogun, who was meant to miss the clash – at 1am UK time on Tuesday – after being given a straight red card during the USA’s 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 32.
FIFA have appointed an arbitrator from the Appeal Committee to consider Belgium’s case, but it is a race against time.
And on Monday morning UEFA – European football’s governing body – released a statement condemning the decision to suspend the ban and make Balogun available for the last-16 clash.
‘Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,’ read the statement.
‘Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not. A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension.
‘When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake, and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.
‘Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.
‘We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.’
Human rights organisation FairSquare said: ‘The rules were clearly broken in a way that benefits the political interests of the US President.’
