USA striker Folarin Balogun will be allowed to play against Belgium in their round-of-16 clash on Tuesday after FIFA controversially turned his automatic one-match ban for a red card into a suspended punishment
UEFA president Alexander Ceferin and FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino(Image: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)
UEFA have released a strongly-worded statement criticising FIFA’s ‘unjustifiable’ decision to lift USA star Folarin Balogun’s red card and allow him to play in their last-16 clash with Belgium. After being sent off for serious foul play against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, former Arsenal striker Balogun was due to miss Tuesday’s fixture in Seattle.
But FIFA controversially invoked a little-known article in its rules to suspend Balogun’s ban for one year in a major boost for the co-hosts, as the 25-year-old is their top goalscorer at the World Cup. It’s also emerged that United States President Donald Trump called FIFA’s Gianni Infantino in an effort to get the red card overturned – although FIFA insist that the call didn’t influence their judgement.
Infantino and FIFA have faced fierce backlash, with the Belgian FA confirming in a statement that they are ‘investigating all potential options’. UEFA have now given their verdict and stated that the decision ‘crossed a red line’, describing it as ‘unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable’.
Their statement read: “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.
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“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.”
Should Folarin Balogun’s red card have been lifted? Have your say in the comments section.
UEFA’s statement adds fuel to the fire amid an ongoing battle with FIFA. It’s long been speculated that the two most powerful bodies in football are at war for control of the sport.
Speaking after the news had broken on Monday afternoon, Belgium manager Rudi Garcia compared the decision to an April Fools joke. Garcia, whose side dramtically beat Senegal 3-2 in the previous round, quipped: “I didn’t know that July 5 was equal to April 1 at FIFA.
“I think we should refer to the [statement] of my federation, the Belgian federation. I think a lot of things are in it. The federation does not defend itself, it does not defend the national team – it defends football in general. It defends its integrity. It defends its ethics.”
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