The Folarin Balogun controversy has taken a dramatic twist with Belgium granted an appeal against the United States striker’s shock reinstatement for Monday’s last-16 tie in Seattle. There are no guarantees, however, over when the decision will be made or whether Fifa’s reasoning for lifting his suspension will be made public.
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) expressed “astonishment” on Sunday at Fifa’s decision to rescind Balogun’s one-match ban, with their manager, Rudi Garcia, comparing it to an April Fool’s Day joke. Donald Trump repeatedly lobbied Fifa to lift Balogun’s ban, with sources telling the Guardian the US president made three calls to Fifa, starting on Wednesday, after Balogun was sent off in the USA’s 2-0 last-16 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, to ensure the change was made.
To compound Belgium’s anger, it is understood that the RBFA has not received the reasons for Balogun’s one-match ban being overturned, which has only been explained by a brief reference to Article 27 of Fifa’s disciplinary code, which gives its judicial committee the authority to “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure”. As a result, the RBFA has essentially submitted their appeal blind, and have not received any information on timings.
As per Fifa regulations, the appeal will be heard by a member of Fifa’s appeals committee that does not represent Uefa or Concacaf, the federations that Belgium and USA are members of, to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Fifa’s disciplinary processes are now under huge scrutiny, however, due to the unprecedented nature of Balogun’s reprieve and the revelation that Trump was heavily involved in getting the 25-year-old’s red card rescinded.
The RBFA’s appeal is unlikely to be the end of the matter, as they have made clear that they are exploring legal action against Fifa, whom they claim have broken their own statutes.
The USA manager Mauricio Pochettino praised Fifa’s move and reiterated his view that the decision by Brazilian referee, Raphael Claus, to show Balogun a red card for making contact with Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic was harsh. “Everyone that really loves the sport and trusts ethics and integrity, I think we celebrate all that decision,” Pochettino said. “We were punished enough against Bosnia Herzegovina to play with 10 men for 30 minutes [because of] a decision that was completely unfair … 99.9% of people agree there was an unfair red card.”
Leave a Reply