FIFA have ‘crossed a red line’ in Balogun reprieve: UEFA

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UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin

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FIFA “crossed a red line” with the controversial decision to suspend US star Folarin Balogun’s one game ban for a year, European football’s governing body UEFA said on Monday.

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FIFA’s ruling, which came after the intervention of Donald Trump, permits Balogun to play in the co-hosts’ World Cup last 16 match with Belgium later on Monday.

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“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 UEFA’s strongly worded statement.

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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.”

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UEFA warned of the ramifications for the sport as a whole.

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“Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because is played everywhere with the same laws,” it said.

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“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.

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“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”

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Balogun, who has scored three goals at the World Cup, had been set to miss the clash in Seattle after receiving a straight red card following a video review for stepping on a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender’s foot in the round-of-32 match the US won 2-0.

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Under FIFA rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-game ban.

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Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino asking him to review Balogun’s punishment, two sources familiar with the matter told AFP.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also publicly called for the card to be rescinded.

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The decision to suspend the ban was taken by FIFA’s disciplinary committee.

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World football’s governing body said Sunday the ban will now be suspended for a year, in a stunning move for which no specific explanation was offered.

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“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

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The Belgians were stupefied by the ruling.

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“I didn’t know that at the FIFA World Cup, the 5th of July is now the 1st of April, and that it’s April Fool’s Day,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia told reporters.

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