The United States striker Folarin Balogun has revealed he predicted Donald Trump’s involvement in overturning his World Cup suspension would “cause a lot of controversy”.
- Folarin Balogun's one-match ban was suspended for a year by Fifa, allowing him to play in the last-16 loss to Belgium.
- Folarin Balogun said outside noise made focusing difficult and insists the red card for contact with Tarik Muharemovic was incorrect.
- FairSquare complained to the IOC alleging Gianni Infantino breached neutrality; Fifa gave no explanation and disciplinary decisions were questioned.
The Monaco forward was sent off with a red card in the United States’ round-of-32 meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Fifa’s disciplinary committee then suspended the one-match ban for a year, allowing Balogun to participate in the Americans’ last-16 loss to Belgium.
Balogun found himself the lightning rod in a storm of debate as a result, and on Tuesday morning human rights group FairSquare submitted a complaint to the International Olympic Committee alleging Fifa president Gianni Infantino breached rules on political neutrality in his dealings with the US president, who admitted he personally intervened on behalf of Balogun and the US co-hosts.
Balogun told CBS: “My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that is so unique.
“But the closer we got to the game I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”
The Arsenal academy product still maintains the red card he was issued for a tackle on Tarik Muharemovic was not the correct decision.
He added: “I was in shock. It wasn’t even a tackle. I was totally in shock, I think you could see my reaction, but I just had to accept the decision and just try to be there for my team.
“When something’s not intentional it should never be a red card, so it was just an unfortunate situation, and I think it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed.”
Sports and human rights nonprofit FairSquare says Infantino – who became an IOC member in 2020 – has repeatedly breached the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s code of ethics, most recently in his handling of the Balogun affair.
The Times has reported that the disciplinary committee chair Mohammad Al Kamali made the key decision to suspend the ban alone, having never been the sole arbiter in any published previous disciplinary cases.
Fifa has offered no explanation of why the ban was suspended.
FairSquare’s complaint alleges five clear breaches of the IOC’s rules on political neutrality, along with “prima facie” evidence of two further serious breaches – including the handling of the Balogun case.
In December, FairSquare made a similar complaint to Fifa’s ethics committee. FairSquare said it had received acknowledgement that its complaint had been received, but has not had any further information.
The Norwegian football federation wrote to the Fifa ethics committee last month requesting it consider FairSquare’s complaint.
Fifty members of the European Parliament wrote to the same committee on 29 June urging it to address FairSquare’s complaint.
Fifa and the IOC have been contacted for comment.
