UEFA have waded into the row over Folarin Balogun’s suspended one-match ban in stunning fashion.
Folarin Balogun was set to miss out on the United States’ World Cup last-16 showdown with Belgium on Monday after a sending off during the previous round of 32.
The Monaco forward received a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic, which incurred an automatic suspension.
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UEFA condemn FIFA’s Folarin Balogun decision
However FIFA triggered ‘Article 27’ of its Disciplinary Code, which allows Balogun’s looming ban to be held back for a probationary 12-month period.
The decision was reportedly taken after private discussions between US President Donald Trump and the head of world football’s governing body, Gianni Infantino.
It means Balogun, who has scored three goals in as many World Cup starts, will be available for Mauricio Pochettino’s side in their encounter with the Red Devils.
FIFA’s retrospective action is being widely condemned with Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia blasting the decision as an ‘April Fools’ ahead of the clash in Seattle.
Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville said the move ‘absolutely stinks’ after the governing body ‘just decided to basically let a player play’.
Sepp Blatter, Infantino’s controversial predecessor as FIFA President, has also questioned Trump’s potential involvement in Balogun’s ban receiving a temporary hold.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies,” he wrote on X. “If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President – and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match – the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis [Where are you going], FIFA? Football must never become a playground for political power.”
Now UEFA have issued a forthright condemnation of their global counterparts and insisted the decision to suspend Balogun’s ban on Sunday ‘crossed a red line’.
“Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition,” read an official statement. “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.”
