The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced in a laconic statement that the penalty imposed on Balogun has been suspended and the player will be able to play against Belgium. And this decision caused a wave of indignation.
A reaction came from the European Association Football Union (UEFA), which stated that FIFA “crossed a red line”, condemning a decision qualified as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.
In the press release issued by the European forum, it is said that “football, like any other sport, is based on rules that are the foundation of a fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes the rules are open to interpretation. In this case, however, the situation is different.”
UEFA made no reference to the phone call between US President Donald Trump and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, a call confirmed by two sources close to the situation, focusing on the actual content of the regulation. “The automatic suspension of at least one match following a red card is not a matter left to the discretion of the governing bodies, nor does it require a decision by a competent authority to be enforced.”
In UEFA’s view, the minimum suspension for the round of 16 match against Belgium is “an enshrined principle in the regulations, which does not allow any exceptions, especially in the middle of the tournament, given that other players have faced the same situation. When the legal security of the rules is no longer guaranteed by those who must ensure their observance, the integrity of the game is put at risk and the credibility of the competition is undermined. Moreover, such a decision creates a precedent for the ongoing tournament, in which similar situations will, from now on, have to be treated identically, to the detriment of the competition”, concluded the European forum.
Sepp Blatter wonders where FIFA is heading
The former president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, also had a reaction, who expressed his surprise at the decision of the world soccer body to cancel the red card received by the American player Folarin Balogun: “Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned based on regulations, evidence and decisions by independent bodies”the 90-year-old former Swiss official wrote on X’s account.
Blatter continued: “If a US president steps in alongside the FIFA president, and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match, the question becomes inevitable: Quo vadis (where are you going, FIFA?) Soccer must never become a playground for political power.”Sepp Blatter concluded, adding the hashtags #GianniInfantino and #DonaldTrump to avoid any ambiguity.
Forced to resign in 2015 amid a wave of scandals, Blatter has never minced his words regarding his successor. In February last year, he lamented in German daily Bild that FIFA is “a dictatorship” that “comes down to its president”.
The Swiss also referred to this year’s edition of the World Cup, stating that “Trump will orchestrate a publicity stunt” around the 2026 World Cup and “for that, he needs his new friend, FIFA president Gianni Infantino”, after which he wrote that the term “accomplice” would be more appropriate than “friend”.
