Photo credit: Nine
Former Socceroo Craig Foster has labelled Donald Trump’s request for FIFA chief Gianni Infantino too review the decision to give a red card and one-game ban to star US striker Folarin Balogun as “horrible” as the football world and beyond expressed disbelief over the decision.
Wide World of Sports reports that following Trump’s phone call to Infantino, FIFA announced that Balogun would be eligible to play in the Round of 16 against Belgium on Tuesday morning (AEST), igniting questions around the integrity of the tournament.
The decision even conjured a response from former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, who was charged with fraud, forgery and criminal mismanagement in 2021, saying “football must never become a playground for political power.”
Speaking to Nine’s Today, Foster called Trump’s actions “political interference” and that FIFA rules state suce indiscretions come with hefty penalties.
“It’s wrong. Political interference by a government into the game or influencing decisions of the game, actually under FIFA statute should result in a suspension of the federation and often does, of course, only small federations, not the US, right?
“It’s all about power. This is the way Trump is operating in every field, not just football. Sadly it’s come to the World Cup.”
Foster declared if Trump’s actions directly impacts results, then team USA will have that hanging over them for the entirety of the tournament.
Additionally the commentary about the validity of the red card from pundits in the US, has also muddled the waters, he believes.
“It doesn’t matter about whether you think it was a red card or otherwise, this is what US a lot of people and pundits and fans are carrying on with – ‘well it wasn’t a red card’ – it doesn’t matter, it was given, the referee had discretion to give it, under the rules, he could give it, the VAR intervened, said it was correct, and that’s the end of it,” Foster, who played 29 games for Australia responded.
In 1962, political intervention at the World Cup saved Brazilian star Garrincha from suspension after he received a red card in the semi-final against hosts Chile.
Chilean President Jorge Alessandri reached out to FIFA, and the Peruvian President reportedly called the referee, helping Garrincha play in the final.
To combat political intervention, FIFA established strict rules backed by severe sanctions like expulsion or suspension for the federation involved.
Ironically, the governing body’s former boss, Blatter, took to social media to denounce the sequence of events.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies,” he wrote.
“If a US President intervenes in with the FIFA President – and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match – the question is unavoidable.”
How Infantino navigates Trump’s interference after the World Cup concludes will be telling.
When speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday AEST, Trump said: “All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this’.” adding that he “didn’t think it was a foul”.
He referred to the incident as “two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other”.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said of the Balogun foul.
The comments represent the first detailed account from Trump on his conversation with Infantino, with whom he has a close relationship.
UEFA also hammered the call in a strongly worded statement.
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” the European 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 noy 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. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.
“Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
Infantino also addressed the controversy in a lengthy statement on social media,confirming the call with Trump but asserting that the decision on Balogun’s suspension came from an independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
Trump called the referee’s integrity into question, saying the referee was a “little bit suspect” as he encouraged reporters to “check his past.”
The Belgian football federation is challenging Balogun’s eligibility but FIFA quickly denied it, deciding tha Balogun was not a party to the proceedings and had no standing, as the decision happened during a game between the US and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
