Folarin Balogun knew the moment the news broke that things were about to get weird. The U.S. striker had just been handed a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. A suspension that should have kept him out of the Belgium match. Then President Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino. And the ban got suspended for a year.
Balogun played against Belgium. The U.S. lost anyway. But the fallout didn’t end there.
Speaking to CBS, Balogun admitted that the political intervention rattled the locker room more than he expected. He was happy to be back, sure. But the noise got loud fast.
“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said. “I could almost see within my team-mates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that is so unique.”
The ban that wouldn’t stick
The Monaco forward’s red card came on a challenge against Tarik Muharemovic. Balogun insists it wasn’t even a tackle. He was in shock when the card came out and still believes the call was wrong. But the decision that really stirred things up came from FIFA’s disciplinary committee. Committee chair Mohammad Al Kamali reportedly made the call to suspend the ban unilaterally. That move is, according to The Times, unprecedented in his published history of disciplinary rulings.
FIFA has not explained why the ban was suspended. The organization has also not commented on the ethics complaints stacking up against its president.
“When something’s not intentional it should never be a red card,” Balogun said. “It was just an unfortunate situation, and I think it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed.”
FairSquare calls foul at the IOC
This week, the human rights group FairSquare filed a formal complaint with the International Olympic Committee. They allege Infantino violated the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s code of ethics through his involvement with Trump on the Balogun matter. Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020. The complaint lists five explicit breaches of political neutrality rules and what they call prima facie evidence of two more serious violations.
FairSquare filed a similar complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee back in December. FIFA confirmed receipt but hasn’t said anything since. The Norwegian football federation formally asked the ethics committee to take it up last month. Then on June 29, 50 members of the European Parliament wrote to the same committee urging action.
Both FIFA and the IOC have been approached for comment. Neither has responded yet.
Balogun tried to block out the noise in the days before the Belgium match. He said he focused as best he could but admitted it was hard. A lot of outside noise. And hard to avoid.
Leave a Comment