Balogun furore risks eroding faith in officiating, say Webb and Masters

LONDON, Aug 19 : The fallout from FIFA's decision to allow U.S. forward Folarin Balogun to play despite a World Cup red card risked undermining trust in football's disciplinary and officiating processes, warned the Premier League's refereeing head Howard Webb and chief executive Richard Masters.

Balogun's dismissal was one of the most contentious episodes of the tournament after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly intervened and FIFA subsequently lifted the American striker's suspension through a process that critics said lacked transparency.

Webb and Masters said the affair had created unnecessary distraction and fuelled suspicions that could extend beyond the global tournament and into the domestic season that begins on Friday.

Webb, head of Pro Ref (formerly Professional Game Match Officials Limited or PGMOL), said he was less concerned about debate over the original decision than the perception created by events that followed.

"I was really troubled by it," said Webb, who refereed the 2010 World Cup final. 

"We know that there was pressure placed by a politician onto FIFA because that was admitted, and we know that the suspension was taken away for that particular tournament and suspended through a process which seemingly didn't exist before the tournament started."

Webb said the episode had come at a time when controversial decisions were increasingly portrayed online as evidence of corruption.

"Far too often now, decisions are viewed as corrupt by people who want to type all over social media," Webb said. "They try to draw inferences around decisions that they don't agree with, and what's the motivation behind that decision, which is born out of no facts, no evidence.

"It opens up space for people to think, 'Ha ha! You