“Disbelief”: UEFA attacks FIFA over Balogun suspension decision
European soccer’s governing body has strongly criticized FIFA’s leniency with Folarin Balogun over the U.S. forward’s red card against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
UEFA has issued a strongly-worded statement condemning FIFA’s decision to grant relief to U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, allowing him to face Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 despite being sent off in his team’s last-32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Soccer’s European confederation criticized FIFA’s stance as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”, amid reports that the global governing body yielded to pressure from U.S. president Donald Trump in allowing Balogun to escape with a suspended one-game ban.
“Crossed a red line”
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” UEFA said.
“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.”
UEFA statement on the Balogun case: ⬇️https://t.co/9LQDx8waKe
— UEFA (@UEFA) July 6, 2026
UEFA continued: “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.
“Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole. We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
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