United States striker Folarin Balogun has revealed he anticipated that Donald Trump's intervention to overturn his World Cup suspension would spark significant controversy. The Monaco forward, on loan from Arsenal, was sent off in the round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina but had his one-match ban suspended for a year by Fifa's disciplinary committee, allowing him to play in the 4-1 last-16 loss to Belgium.
Balogun reflects on Trump's involvement
Speaking to CBS, Balogun said: '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.' He added that focusing on the game was difficult due to 'a lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.'
Red card decision disputed
The Arsenal academy product maintains the red card for a tackle on Tarik Muharemovic was incorrect. '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,' Balogun said.
FairSquare complaint against Infantino
Human rights group FairSquare has filed a complaint to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) alleging Fifa president Gianni Infantino breached political neutrality rules in his dealings with Trump, who admitted personal intervention. The complaint cites five clear breaches of IOC rules and 'prima facie' evidence of two further breaches, including the Balogun case. FairSquare previously filed a similar complaint to Fifa's ethics committee in December, receiving acknowledgment but no further response.
Disciplinary process questioned
According to The Times, disciplinary committee chair Mohammad Al Kamali made the key decision to suspend the ban alone, with no record of him serving as sole arbiter in previous published cases. Fifa has offered no explanation for the suspension. The Norwegian football federation and 50 members of the European Parliament have also urged Fifa's ethics committee to address FairSquare's complaint. Fifa and the IOC have been contacted for comment.
