- UEFA warns of consequences for sport as a whole.
- Belgium stunned by Balogun’s red card.
- The rules in this matter are not subject to interpretation: UEFA.
FIFA has “crossed a red line” with the controversial decision to suspend the one-match suspension of American star Folarin Balogun for a year, European football’s governing body UEFA said on Monday.
Fifa’s decision, which came after Donald Trump’s intervention, allows Balogun to play in the round of 16 of the co-host World Cup against Belgium later on Monday.
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a one-year probationary period the application of the automatic one-match suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” we read in a very firm press release from UEFA.
“Football, like any other sport, is based on rules that provide the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes the rules are open to interpretation. In this case, no.”
UEFA has warned of the consequences for the sport as a whole.
“Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful and trustworthy game because it is played according to the same laws everywhere,” he said.
“A tournament is never a standalone tournament and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to have positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Balogun, who scored three goals at the World Cup, was expected to miss the clash in Seattle after receiving a consecutive red card following a video review for stepping on the foot of a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender during the round of 16 match which the United States won 2-0.
Under FIFA rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-match ban.
Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to ask him to review Balogun’s punishment, two sources familiar with the matter told AFP.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also publicly called for the map to be cancelled.
The decision to suspend the ban was taken by Fifa’s disciplinary committee.
World football’s governing body announced on Sunday that the ban would now be suspended for a year, a stunning move for which no specific explanation was offered.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The Belgians were stunned by this decision.
“I didn’t know that at the FIFA World Cup, July 5 is now April 1 and it’s April Fool’s Day,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia told reporters.
