Red-card ‘controversy’ distracted US team: Folarin Balogun

NEW YORK – US striker Folarin Balogun said on July 14 that his overturned suspension in the World Cup went from elation among his teammates to a sense of uneasiness that impacted the side’s tepid last-16 exit.

In a visit to the CBS Mornings show, the 25-year-old described the whirlwind of emotions that started with his red card in a last-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina to FIFA suspending his mandatory one-game ban for a last-16 match against Belgium.

Balogun was sent off after planting his boot into the ankle of ​defender Tarik Muharemovic, which carried an automatic one-match ban.

He conceded that it was a confusing few days for him as he took on a supporting role in training to try to keep the team’s morale high, before finding out he was cleared to play.

“We found out on the team bus. Everybody was like screaming and shouting,” Balogun said. “It was a pretty intense bus ride to the practice field.”

Resentment for the US team grew after President Donald Trump admitted that he reached out to FIFA for a review of the decision.

The animosity picked up even more momentum when Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said his side were prepared to defend the credibility of the sport after Balogun was ruled eligible.

Belgium dominated the second half of a 4-1 victory on July 6 at Lumen Field in Seattle that eliminated the United States from the tournament.

The Americans’ ineffective display against Belgium was criticised, as was star player Christian Pulisic, who struggled to spark the attack before departing with a leg injury.

While the US won Group D with victories in their opening two matches and then beat Bosnia in the round of 32, they failed to equal their best run in the tournament. They had reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

“It was a difficult game against Belgium and that can kind of overshadow whether we were focused or not,” Balogun said during his studio visit. “From me, being inside the camp and inside the set-up, I know we had full concentration going into the game.”

And yet the team carried the weight of what became a heavy dose of world politics.

“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said.

“And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves. Because it is something that is so unique.

“The closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult (with) a lot of outside noise. That’s hard to avoid.”

The unprecedented situation thrust FIFA’s disciplinary process into the global spotlight, drawing criticism from European football’s governing body UEFA and former referees.

The Balogun incident was among those cited as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) received a complaint alleging FIFA president Gianni Infantino has repeatedly breached rules on political neutrality in his support of Trump.

FairSquare, a nonprofit organisation and advocacy group, in its complaint, is questioning the credibility and integrity of Infantino, who also became an IOC member in 2020.

The organisation said he “is obliged to adhere to strict rules on political neutrality in the Olympic Charter and the IOC code of ethics”, adding that the IOC can expel members who do not fulfil these obligations.

“As outlined in the FairSquare complaint, there is compelling evidence that Infantino has committed five clear breaches of IOC rules on political neutrality through statements or other clear expressions of support for the US President,” FairSquare posted on its website.

One “serious breach” in the complaint was the Balogun situation with Infantino possibly giving in to pressure from Trump. Another was Infantino promoting a FIFA fan site for the 2026 World Cup, “which appears to have been part of a data-harvesting campaign run by entities linked to President Trump”, FairSquare wrote.

Another alleged breach was Infantino’s supportive post on his Instagram account after attending an event linked to Trump’s presidential inauguration in January 2025.

Infantino also publicly endorsed Trump for the Nobel Prize in October 2025 and he made more supportive comments in November. In December, Infantino presented Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center.

FairSquare also made a complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee in December, which was supported by the Norwegian football federation as well as 50 members of the European Parliament in a separate writing on June 29.

The IOC and FIFA did not respond to requests for comment from multiple media outlets.
REUTERS, AFP