GENEVA (AP) \u2014 Soccer leaders questioned the World Cup\u2019s integrity on a chaotic and unprecedented day in the event\u2019s modern history Monday.<\/p>\n
The furor centered on a phone call that President Donald Trump made last week to FIFA head Gianni Infantino to make the case that U.S. striker Folarin Balogun should not have been suspended for Monday\u2019s matchup with Belgium because of a red card in a game last week. FIFA lifted the suspension and cleared Balogun to play.<\/p>\n
The decision appeared to be the first time since 1962 that punishment for a World Cup offense was suspended in the tournament, increasing scrutiny on Infantino\u2019s control of FIFA and his close association with Trump.<\/p>\n
European soccer body UEFA said FIFA \u201ccrossed a red line\u201d and called Sunday\u2019s decision by FIFA\u2019s disciplinary committee \u201cunprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.\u201d Infantino denied having a role in the decision. Trump called it a \u201chorrible\u201d call and took credit for getting FIFA to review the foul, but said he did not demand an outcome.<\/p>\n
The Belgian Football Association said it informed the U.S. Soccer Federation it was contesting Balogun\u2019s eligibility.<\/p>\n
But FIFA\u2019s appeals committee dismissed Belgium\u2019s legal challenge<\/a> less than eight hours before scheduled kickoff of the round of 16 match in Seattle. The appellate panel said Belgium had no standing to challenge the decision.<\/p>\n It was unclear whether Belgium could pursue an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.<\/p>\n Balogun\u2019s red card was assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus for stepping on an opponent\u2019s ankle last Wednesday during the Americans\u2019 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Claus did not initially issue a red card but showed it after a video review.<\/p>\n FIFA\u2019s disciplinary committee on Sunday provisionally lifted the suspension for one year and fined Balogun $40,000, which the USSF can pay.<\/p>\n UEFA vs. FIFA reignites<\/p>\n European soccer officials reacted with outrage.<\/p>\n \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 UEFA said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not,\u201d it said. \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 UEFA has often clashed with Infantino<\/a> during his decade in FIFA power.<\/p>\n Infantino\u2019s predecessor Sepp Blatter, forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media<\/a>: <\/p>\n \u201cRed cards are not overturned by political phone calls,\u201d said Blatter. \u201cThey are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.\u201d <\/p>\n The Swiss Football Association declared that the \u201ccredibility of the competition depends on clear rules that are applied consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n Coaches speculated about the implications of the decision going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the next red card? What happens then?\u201d Norway coach St\u00e5le Solbakken said. \u201cIs there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away? It\u2019s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n England coach Thomas Tuchel wondered whether yellow cards to English defender Declan Rice and French midfielder Michael Olise could be reversed.<\/p>\n FIFA\u2019s disciplinary committee defended its decision in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cReviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game,\u201d it said. \u201cIn the majority of top-tier leagues belonging to UEFA-affiliated member associations the overturning of red cards is a common disciplinary measure, yet this has never raised concerns about crossing any `red line.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s comments<\/p>\n Trump on Monday called the referee\u2019s decision a \u201chorrible\u201d call while admitting he was confused about the rules and punishment surrounding red cards.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was a foul,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.\u201d<\/p>\n He also acknowledged calling Infantino.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I did was ask for a review,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI didn\u2019t say, \u2018You have to do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Infantino issued a statement saying: \u201cFIFA\u2019s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA\u2019s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,\u201d he said of his conversation with Trump.<\/p>\n Infantino\u2019s relationship with Trump<\/a> previously sparked concern among soccer officials. European soccer leaders walked out of a FIFA Congress in Paraguay last year due to a three-hour delay caused by Infantino arriving late because he was with Trump in the Middle East.<\/p>\n After Infantino awarded Trump the first FIFA peace prize in December, Norway\u2019s governing body filed a letter supporting an ethics complaint against Infantino that accused him of violating provisions in FIFA\u2019s code of ethics requiring political neutrality.<\/p>\n Belgium\u2019s legal options<\/p>\n Belgian officials prepared in Seattle through the night into Monday to get a hearing with a FIFA-appointed appeals judge, and their eventual defeat might not be the end.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of the sporting outcome of the match,\u201d the Belgian federation said, \u201d(we are) deeply concerned by the way these events have unfolded and will continue, in the hours, days and months ahead, to pursue every available avenue to uphold the fundamental principles of ethics, sporting fairness and the interests of football as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n Balogun\u2019s tackle<\/p>\n Balogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on an ankle of defender Tarik Muharemovi\u0107.<\/p>\n That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.<\/p>\n Still, similar challenges by star players have gone unpunished at this World Cup \u2014 by Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi against Algeria<\/a> and Morocco\u2019s Achraf Hakimi vs. Brazil. Bernardo Silva of Portugal got just a yellow card against Congo.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a yellow card would have been fair,\u201d Balogun later suggested<\/a>.<\/p>\n FIFA\u2019s interventions<\/p>\n This World Cup has been remarkable for FIFA under Infantino seeming to rewrite the norms of disciplinary action<\/a> even before the tournament began.<\/p>\n A pattern of pardons<\/a> opened FIFA to suggestions of executive intervention in the statutory independence of its judicial bodies, including the disciplinary committee that formally reprieved Balogun.<\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo was cleared to play in Portugal\u2019s opening World Cup game despite getting a red card for serious foul play in a qualifying game against Ireland last November. He struck an opponent with an elbow.<\/p>\n Ronaldo served his mandatory ban in Portugal\u2019s final qualifying game but he was reprieved from an expected two-game ban because FIFA introduced the idea of probation. An imposed three-game ban was less meaningful as two games were deferred during a one-year probationary period.<\/p>\n At the opening game on June 11, South Africa\u2019s Themba Zwane got a red card against Mexico for a similar offense to Ronaldo\u2019s and FIFA imposed a three-game ban<\/a> with no probation. Zwane did not play again at the World Cup.<\/p>\n Three players sent off in their teams\u2019 qualifying games last year were surprisingly told by FIFA in May they could serve their bans in a future competition instead of at the World Cup, which was the long-standing norm.<\/p>\n Ecuador midfielder Mois\u00e9s Caicedo, Argentina defender Nicol\u00e1s Otamendi and Qatar defender Tarek Salman all had their bans waived for the World Cup.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n