{"id":128876,"date":"2026-07-06T17:42:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=128876"},"modified":"2026-07-06T17:42:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:42:39","slug":"uefa-slams-fifas-unprecedented-incomprehensible-and-unjustifiable-balogun-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128876\/","title":{"rendered":"UEFA slams FIFA&#8217;s &#8216;unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable&#8217; Balogun decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- European football body UEFA has lashed out at FIFA\u2019s decision to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2013238\/fifa-makes-unprecedented-u-turn-following-trump-intervention-to-clear-balogun-for-us-belgium-world-cup-clash\">suspend<\/a>\u00a0US striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2012353#:~:text=But%20the%20striker%20saw%20red%20as%20VAR%20intervened\">red-card ban<\/a>\u00a0in the World Cup, after American President Donald Trump called FIFA to ask it to review the case, saying world football\u2019s governing body had \u201ccrossed a red line\u201d and undermined the integrity of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,\u201d UEFA said in a&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uefa.com\/news-media\/news\/02a7-2109c8e9ef81-de5a993db109-1000--uefa-statement-on-the-balogun-case\/\">statement<\/a>&nbsp;on Monday. \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Reuters<\/em>&nbsp;has reached out to FIFA for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Balogun, who has scored three goals for the US in the tournament, was sent off after a VAR review for dragging his cleats down the back of defender Tarik Muharemovic\u2019s leg and onto his foot during their win over Bosnia in the round of 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump had asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review Balogun\u2019s red card, which would have automatically suspended the player from Monday\u2019s round of 16 clash with Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FIFA suspended the implementation of the ban for a probationary period of one year, however, without rescinding the red card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stunning move has thrust FIFA\u2019s disciplinary process into the spotlight and prompted an angry response from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), which said it was \u201castonished\u201d by FIFA\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Athletic<\/em>&nbsp;reported that the RBFA has written to FIFA to lodge an appeal in the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- European football body UEFA has lashed out at FIFA\u2019s decision to\u00a0suspend\u00a0US striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s\u00a0red-card ban\u00a0in the World Cup, after American President Donald Trump called FIFA to ask it to review the case, saying world football\u2019s governing body had \u201ccrossed a red line\u201d and undermined the integrity of the game. \u201cWe express our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UEFA slams FIFA&#039;s &#039;unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable&#039; 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