Fifa lifted Folarin Balogun’s suspension – after Donald Trump’s call.
It sends the football world into a frenzy.
– It’s as wrong as it can get, says Norway’s national team captain Ståle Solbakken.
Folarin Balogun, 25, was sent off in the USA’s round of 16, but when it’s time for the round of 16 against Belgium tonight, Swedish time, the star striker is still available. Balogun’s suspension was lifted on Sunday.
At a press conference on Monday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he called Fifa President Gianni Infantino to ask Fifa to “review the situation”.
– A committee then made the decision and it made the right decision, Trump said.
Criticized by Norway
Shortly after Trump’s press conference, Norwegian national team captain Ståle Solbakken met the media, the day after Norway knocked out Brazil. And despite Norway’s success, much of Solbakken’s press conference was about the USA and Fifa instead.
– The decision is unreasonable, it is wrong. It goes against the idea of the game and cannot be defended. It’s as wrong as it can get. I don’t think anyone with a genuine football heart believes that the decision is right, says Solbakken according to VG.
Even the European football association Uefa has been openly critical and writes in a statement that Fifa’s decision to lift the suspension is “incomprehensible and indefensible”.
“When the predictability of the regulatory framework can no longer be guaranteed by those tasked with enforcing it, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of the competition is undermined,” writes Uefa.
SvFF: Very problematic
The Swedish Football Association, SvFF, has sought a response from Fifa to get information and an explanation as to why the suspension has been lifted. According to SvFF chairman Simon Åström, political interference in football is unacceptable.
– It is fundamental that the regulations that exist are predictable, transparent and equal for everyone. If then a red card that normally leads to a suspension is postponed in the middle of an ongoing championship without there being clarity about why and how the regulations should apply, we think it is very problematic, says Åström to TT.
Åström’s Norwegian counterpart, NFF chairman Lise Klaveness, says that with Fifa’s decision “there is reason to question the integrity of the game, political interference in the competition and the credibility of football”.
– It is about the integrity of the whole of football and about protecting the basic principles of fair play – both in the World Cup and in the world’s biggest sport in general, says Klaveness in a statement, according to VG.
