FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he discussed the red card suspension of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun with Donald Trump, and he explained to the U.S. president that a decision on the matter would be taken by FIFA’s independent judicial bodies.
“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” Infantino said in a statement Monday on X. “That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”
Balogun was cleared to play for the United States in the World Cup round of 16 game against Belgium on Monday after FIFA lifted his one-match suspension. Belgium said it was challenging the decision.
The Belgian federation said it learned through media reports about the FIFA’s move and sent a letter to the governing body requesting a copy of the decision as well as an explanation of the process.
“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal,” it said. “No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.
The RBFA insisted that FIFA’s regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant.
“While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible,” it said. “All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests.”
Balogun, the star forward for the U.S. with three goals in the tournament, received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemović of Bosnia-Herzegovina in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.
FIFA announced Sunday that the suspension had been lifted for the round of 16 match, an extraordinary move that triggered praise from Trump and outrage from Belgium’s team. It appeared to be the first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup didn’t result in a suspension.
“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defense of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,” the Belgian federation added.
The FIFA decision drew criticism from the European Commission, the powerful executive arm of the European Union, which is based in Brussels.
Glenn Micallef, the European Union’s commissioner for sport, said that decisions “on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians.”
“Influencing sporting decisions would undermine the autonomy of sport,” he wrote in a message on X. “Our focus should instead be on the real governance challenges facing sport, including the weaponization of sport for political purposes.”
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