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The European Commission has demanded fairness and transparency in light of FIFA’s controversial decision to reverse the red-card suspension for US striker Folarin Balogun following a personal intervention by US President Donald Trump.
Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to undo Balogun’s suspension, and later thanked Infantino for “reversing a great injustice”.
As a result, Balogun has been allowed to play in the US’s upcoming knockout match against Belgium.
“We respect the autonomy of sports,” a Commission spokesperson said on Monday in reply to a Euronews question. “We respect the right of sport federations to decide on the criteria under which participants compete. And any such decision should obviously be made on a set of objective, transparent criteria. We support the principle of fair play and transparent competition.”
The spokesperson declined to comment on Balogun’s individual case, but the remarks can be taken as an implicit rebuke of FIFA’s decision.
Balogun had been set to miss Monday’s last-16 knockout clash with the Belgian Red Devils after receiving a straight red card following video review for stepping on the foot of a Bosnian defender in a round-of-32 clash that the US won 2-0.
Under FIFA rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-game ban, which cannot be appealed by the player’s team. But the governing body stunned football fans on Sunday when it announced the ban would be suspended for a year.
Commissioner Glenn Micaleff, whose portfolio oversees sports, was more scathing in his condemnation, calling the reversal the “wrong decision”.
“I have always been clear. Decisions on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians. Influencing sporting decisions would undermine the autonomy of sport,” Micaleff wrote on social media.
“Our focus should instead be on the real governance challenges facing sport, including the weaponisation of sport for political purposes.”
It is highly unusual for the Commission to wade in on football events.
However, the outrage at FIFA’s decision has proven a mighty force, taking over the news cycle and the political conversation by storm. The fury was particularly intense in Belgium, where the Commission is headquartered.
UEFA slammed the reversal as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”, while the Belgian Football Federation has launched a formal challenge against Balogun’s eligibility.
The federation has accused FIFA of refusing to respond to its “legitimate requests” and creating an appeal process that was “immediately” declared inadmissible.
Additional sources • AFP