Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Monday he questioned the football governing body’s decision to suspend US striker Folarin Balogun’s red card ban.
According to a report by AFP US President Donald Trump had called FIFA’s current chief Gianni Infantino to ask FIFA to review Balogun’s automatic one-game suspension.
The 25-year-old is now free to face Belgium in the last 16 of the World Cup later on Monday, with his ban suspended for a year with no explanation given from FIFA for the move.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” scandal-hit Blatter said on X.
“They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.
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“If a US President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis (Where are you going), FIFA?
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“Football must never become a playground for political power,” the 90-year-old added.
Blatter has often criticised Infantino, telling German newspaper Bild in February FIFA had become a “dictatorship”.
Blatter resigned as FIFA head in 2015 following a corruption crisis and was banned from football by its ethics committee.
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European football’s governing body UEFA, Belgium coach Rudi Garcia and ex-Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp have all slammed FIFA’s decision regarding Balogun’s red card.
