It has now been revealed that only one of the 18 members of the FIFA disciplinary committee made the shocking unprecedented decision to allow Folarin Balogun to play the USA match against Belgium, despite getting a red card in the previous match.
This had never ever happened before at any World Cup, a red card automatically means you miss at least the next match.
Sometimes more than one as Jarell Quansah found out when picking up a two game ban when sent off for England against Mexico. Quansah missing the quarter-final victory over Norway and won’t be available for the semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday.
The Times reporting that: ‘Mohammad al-Kamali, the chairman of FIFA’s disciplinary committee, made the controversial decision to waive a ban for the USA striker Folarin Balogun without any of the 17 other members asked to be involved in the case.’
It defies belief that such an unprecedented decision was made by one person, deciding on his own that for the first time at a World Cup the next match ban would instead be suspended and allow USA star striker Folarin Balogun to play in this huge match.
Donald Trump had rang Gianni Infantino to tell him of his unhappiness with the one match ban.
Then magically, nothing to do with that phone call of course, the chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee decides such an unprecedented ground breaking decision on his own.
The Times stating: ‘The chairman, Mohammad al-Kamali of the United Arab Emirates, made the decision on his own — despite the significance of the ruling. The verdict went against all previous World Cup disciplinary cases, where an automatic suspension is applied for a player who had received a red card, and raises more questions for Fifa. Kamali handed Balogun a one-match ban but deferred it for a probationary period of a year. It allowed the USA’s leading scorer, who had been sent off for serious foul play, which usually carries a two-match ban, to play in the host nation’s round of 16 World Cup match against Belgium, which they lost 4-1.’
The piece from The Times going on to say: ‘The US president Donald Trump claimed credit for the lifting of the ban, saying he had called Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, about the red card. Kamali’s ruling provoked a huge outcry, with Uefa calling it “”unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”. Infantino has admitted Trump called him about the Balogun red card but insisted he told him an “independent judicial body” was overseeing the case which “would be decided in due course by the competent bodies”.’
Martyn Ziegler is Chief sports reporter for The Times and he adds: ‘Other senior figures in football have questioned why Fifa has declined to publish the written reasons for the Balogun decision, adding to the lack of transparency around the case, or even to explain why Balogun’s ban was waived. It is the first time since automatic suspensions for red cards were introduced to the World Cup that one has been lifted. Kamali refused to comment when asked about the case by the BBC on Saturday.’