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July 6 : FIFA suspended United States striker Folarin Balogun's automatic red-card ban on Sunday, clearing him to face Belgium in Monday's World Cup last-16 clash, after U.S. President Donald Trump called on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the decision.
Former Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp on Monday slammed FIFA’s decision to overturn US striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension, which reportedly took place after an intervention from US President Donald Trump.
NYON, Switzerland: European football body UEFA criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” to let United States forward Folarin Balogun play at the World Cup against Belgium on Monday despite a red card in his previous game. UEFA said in a statement FIFA “crossed a red line” with its decision not to enforce Balogun’s mandatory one-game ban, after the world football body came under pressure from US President Donald Trump. FIFA’s ruling Sunday — to defer Balogun’s ban for one year of probation — shockingly deviated from football’s traditional rule of law and drew stinging criticism globally including from former World Cup stars and coaches at this tournament. “It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup,” Norway coach Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said Sunday after his team beat Brazil to reach the quarterfinals. UEFA, whose member federations include Belgium, insisted: “Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.” “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,” said the European football body, which has often clashed with FIFA President Gianni Infantino during his decade in power. “We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” said UEFA, where Infantino was its CEO-like general secretary from 2009 until being elected to lead FIFA in February 2016. The Belgian football federation was preparing an appeal in Seattle in the early hours of Monday to challenge the Balogun ruling before a FIFA-appointed appeals judge.
MIAMI: United States striker Folarin Balogun is available for the World Cup last-16 clash with Belgium after FIFA suspended his ban for a red card on Sunday (Jul 5) in an unprecedented move following a call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
WASHINGTON/SEATTLE, July 5 : The United States’ World Cup campaign took an extraordinary turn on Sunday when FIFA made the unprecedented decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s automatic red-card ban, clearing the striker to face Belgium in Monday's last-16 clash after U.S. President Donald Trump personally urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the case.
SEATTLE: United States coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Sunday that he welcomed FIFA's decision to suspend striker Folarin Balogun's red card ban ahead of the team's World Cup last-16 match with Belgium on Monday in Seattle.
MIAMI: United States striker Folarin Balogun is available for the World Cup last-16 clash with Belgium after FIFA suspended his ban for a red card on Sunday (Jul 5) in an unprecedented move following a call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
SEATTLE: US President Donald Trump intervened on behalf of American star forward Folarin Balogun, whose suspension was lifted in a decision that allows him to play in a World Cup match against Belgium on Monday. Balogun, the American leader with three goals, received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemović of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday. A red card triggers an automatic one-game suspension. FIFA announced Sunday that the suspension had been lifted, triggering praise from Trump and outrage from Belgium’s team. Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino after the game asking FIFA review the red card, according to a person familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said in a statement on social media. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “astonished” and Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked FIFA’s action. “I didn’t know that in the offices of FIFA the 5th of July was the 1st of April in Europe,” Garcia said through a translator in an April Fools’ Day comparison.