UEFA says FIFA decision on Folarin Balogun ‘crossed a red line’, endangers ‘integrity of the game’
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, has said that FIFA’s the decision to suspend USMNT striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban is “incomprehensible” and “crossed a red line”.
Balogun received a straight red card in USMNT’s World Cup round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday for a foul on defender Tarik Muharemovic.
Under world governing body FIFA’s own rules, Balogun was set to be banned for one match and would not be available to face Belgium in Monday’s last 16 tie, which kicks off kicks off at 5pm PT (8pm ET) at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Multiple FIFA officials told The Athletic after the game that a team is not able to appeal against a red card or the subsequent suspension.
However, despite his dismissal, the USMNT striker is now available to face Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday night after an intervention involving U.S. President Donald Trump, government officials, U.S. Soccer and an extensive legal team.
The ban has been suspended for a probationary period of one year, rather than being overturned.
The decision was criticized by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), who called it a “direct contradiction” of the competition regulations. As reported by The Athletic on Monday, Belgium has been granted the right to appeal against FIFA’s decision.
Balogun is now in line to start against Belgium (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
UEFA issued a statement on the case on Monday, heavily criticizing the suspension of the ban.
“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,” a spokesperson for the governing body said.
“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. We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Asked for comment by The Athletic, former UEFA president and France captain Michel Platini described the situation as “shameful”.
The RBFA released a statement on Monday that criticised FIFA’s handling of the situation and lack of communication, saying: “After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations.
“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. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.
“For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own 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.
“All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests.”
Ngoy was sent off against Iran and served a one-game suspension. (Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The statement continued: “FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response.
“To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player’s eligibility for the upcoming match.
“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 defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole.”
UEFA and FIFA have long been at odds with each other, with eight European members of the FIFA Council, led by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, notably walking out of the FIFA Congress in Paraguay in May. They said this was because Infantino appeared to prioritize meetings with world leaders, including President Trump.
The two bodies have also been on opposite sides of high-profile footballing issues, such as players receiving red cards for covering their mouths in situations of confrontation, with UEFA opting to not follow FIFA’s lead on sending players off for the offense.
UEFA is also planning to freeze ticket prices for the 2028 European Championships, in contrast to FIFA’s pricing approach for this summer’s World Cup in North America.
Platini, meanwhile, launched civil and criminal proceedings in France against FIFA and Infantino in June, claiming he was the victim of a plot to block his bid to run for FIFA president in 2015.
The suspension of Balogun’s ban was also criticized by former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who focused on the apparent involvement of Trump and Infantino.
“If that really was the case, then that’s crazy,” Klopp said, speaking to German broadcaster Magenta. “Let’s just say: this is our game, not theirs. These two people (Trump and Infantino), who both have no idea about football, should have nothing to do with that. That was a red card. There’s no two ways about it.”
U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino defended the decision on Sunday.
“My reaction is everyone who really loves the sport and trusts the integrity, we celebrate that decision,” he said. “We were punished enough against Bosnia to play with 10 men for 30 minutes, in a decision that was unfair. It’s not because I’m the head coach of the USA… I think 99.9% of people agree it was an unfair red card.”
Balogun has been a crucial player for the U.S. so far, scoring three goals. The winner of the game between Pochettino’s side and Belgium will play either Portugal or Spain in the quarter-finals.
A member of the FIFA appeals committee – who does not represent a federation in either UEFA or CONCACAF, so as to avoid any potential conflict of interest – has been selected to hear Belgium’s appeal against the decision.
Submissions must now be made by Monday morning, with a ruling possible before the game, but Belgium have not been provided with any guarantees by FIFA that this will be the case. It is unclear whether the appeal is merely procedural or if it has a genuine chance of moving the goalposts once more ahead of a huge knockout game at a World Cup.
