Folarin Balogun says he foresaw controversy as overturned ban debate escalates
By Rachel Steinberg, Press Association and Jamie Gardner, Press Association Chief Sports Reporter
United States striker Folarin Balogun has revealed he predicted President Trump’s involvement in overturning his World Cup suspension would “cause a lot of controversy.”
The Monaco forward was sent off in the United States’ round-of-32 meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but FIFA’s disciplinary committee then suspended the one-match ban for a year, allowing Balogun to participate in the last-16 loss to Belgium.
Balogun found himself the lightning rod in a storm of debate as a result, and on Tuesday morning human rights group FairSquare submitted a complaint to the International Olympic Committee alleging FIFA president Gianni Infantino breached rules on political neutrality in his dealings with President Trump, who admitted he personally intervened on behalf of Balogun and the US co-hosts.
Balogun told CBS: “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 team-mates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that is so unique.
“But the closer we got to the game I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”
The Arsenal academy product still maintains the red card he was issued for a tackle on Tarik Muharemovic was not the correct decision.
He added: “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.”
FairSquare says Infantino – who became an IOC member in 2020 – has repeatedly breached the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s code of ethics, most recently in his handling of the Folarin Balogun affair.
The Times has reported that the disciplinary committee chair Mohammad Al Kamali made the key decision to suspend the ban alone, having never been the sole arbiter in any published previous disciplinary cases.
FIFA has offered no explanation of why the ban was suspended.
FairSquare’s complaint alleges five clear breaches of the IOC’s rules on political neutrality, along with ‘prima facie’ evidence of two further serious breaches – including the handling of the Balogun case.
In December, FairSquare made a similar complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee. FairSquare said it had received acknowledgement that its complaint had been received, but has not had any further information.
The Norwegian football federation wrote to the FIFA ethics committee last month requesting it considers the complaint. Fifty members of the European Parliament wrote to the same committee on June 29 urging it to address the complaint.
FIFA and the IOC have been contacted for comment.
