The image and integrity of football have been restored after Belgium eliminated the USA from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Yes, my introduction sounds a little bit too harsh, but that is probably the general thought and feeling of every staunch football-loving fan out there who felt disrespected by the shady decision by FIFA and its controversial president, Gianni Infantino, to overturn a red card to accommodate a player from the US, Folarin Balogun.
This incident was after outspoken US number one statesman Donald Trump took it upon himself to call his friend Infantino and request that he review Balogun’s case, who was initially suspended for the game against Belgium.
Suspension suspended’
“In line with Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” FIFA said in a statement.
“If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”
The above statement was released after the mysterious telephonic conversation between Trump and Infantino on Sunday. Everyone who follows football or soccer, as the okes from the States call it, knows that a red card in a game equals a suspension, simple as that!
However, for obvious reasons, Balogun’s red card was overturned – a decision that has left a bitter taste in the mouths of everyone who talks about football.
What makes the saga even more distasteful is that Infantino went on to defend FIFA’s decision, stating that he “respects decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them”.
“Fifa’s judicial bodies are independent,” Infantino said in a statement posted on social media
“I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Occasionally I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree. What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them.”
Trump pulled strings
Trump then went on to low-key admit that he influenced Fifa’s decision to overturn the red card, as he saw nothing wrong with Balogun’s tackle toward the Bosnian player.
“I saw the play… that wasn’t a foul, that wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running at full speed that happened to crash into each other,” Trump said. “You can’t take your foot and properly place it on somebody else’s foot. These were two great athletes who got tangled up.
“It’s very unfair; you can’t do that. So, yes, I asked for a review by Fifa. I spoke to a man who’s highly respected [Infantino] and, by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold,” Trump added.
Apart from the football community around the world being appalled by the decision, South Africans will feel the hardest done by it because Bafana Bafana’s key player, Themba Zwane, was in a similar situation, but because maybe President Cyril Ramaphosa did not call Infantino, the SA Football Association’s efforts to have Mshishi’s three-match suspension not overturned, but reduced, went in vain.
Be that as it may, the politically-related mediocrity that football fans have been subjected to through this World Cup is almost over, especially with the US now out and Trump most likely not to have anything of a case left to intervene in.
Not unless he makes another call to Infantino to request a review of their embarrassing 4-1 thrashing to Belgium in front of their home crowd, with hapless Balogun on the field.
