UEFA have strongly criticized FIFA’s decision to suspend USMNT striker Folarin Balogun’s red card. Recall that the decision allows the United States striker to be available for the World Cup round-of-16 match against Belgium.
Reacting, UEFA said that FIFA, by making an exception with Balogun and doing so in the middle of the World Cup, has put the integrity of the game at stake and set a precedent.
UEFA added that a minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is a principle embedded in football regulations.
A press statement read, “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 not 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.”
