FIFA Defends Lifting Balogun's 1-Game Ban as Trump Call Fuels Backlash
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 6
FIFA Defends Lifting Balogun's 1-Game Ban as Trump Call Fuels Backlash
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 6
Summary
A 13-paragraph FIFA disciplinary statement defended letting U.S. striker Folarin Balogun play against Belgium, but gave no concrete rationale for suspending his 1-game ban hours before kickoff in Seattle.
The committee said only that it acted on the incident’s “specific circumstances” and available evidence, arguing that suspending the ban — rather than erasing the red card entirely — was a more balanced measure.
That defense followed Donald Trump’s call to Gianni Infantino seeking a review after Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, intensifying accusations that political pressure shaped a sporting decision.
UEFA called the move “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable,” while Belgium challenged Balogun’s eligibility and an Irish MEP said the case fit an “unbroken pattern” of opaque FIFA governance.
FIFA and Infantino insist the judicial bodies acted independently, but the lack of a clear explanation has widened scrutiny of the governing body’s neutrality ahead of the U.S.-Belgium match.