July 6 – UEFA has added a voice from the corridors of world football power to the worldwide criticism of FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino’s decision to overturn the one-match automatic suspension for the red card given to USA forward Folarin Balogun, saying that it “crossed a red line”.

The FIFA decision means Balogun can play tonight in the USA’s Round of 16 match against Belgium.

“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,” said the UEFA statement.

UEFA goes on to say the decision undermines the integrity of the game and the World Cup.

“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,” continues the statement.

UEFA emphasises the importance of trust in the laws that are then same everywhere, but if the laws are rendered meaningless then it damages the game “as a whole”.

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,” the statement concludes.

See FIFA angers football world with rule breaking reversal of Balogun red card after Trump calls Infantino

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