UEFA slams FIFA's 'unprecedented, unjustifiable' Balogun decision

alephnerd

Meanwhile the UEFA was quiet when FIFA used the same Article 27 exception for Ronaldo in 2025 [0]. Maybe the traditional European teams should stop concentrating on personalities and start concentrating on team cohesion. Look at how France was almost defeated by Paraguay until Mbappe was given a free kick, Netherlands defeated by Morocco (most of whose players would have played for France or NL if team selection wasn't so ossified), how Germany was stymied by Ecuador and Paraguay, and Portugal barely eked out a win against Croatia. The Western European teams that have been doing well are those that have younger rosters and are concentrating on team cohesion and talent circulation (eg. Norway, Switzerland, England) instead of superstar player branding (eg. France, Portugal). Either way, based on how Belgium played against Egypt and Iran, the US game would have been difficult for them even without Balogun. If Western European and Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay are in the same boat) teams don't make national selections more meritocratic, the game will eventually shift to West Africa and MENA, especially given how much money is circulating in MENA football in preparation for the 2030 World Cup in Morocco and how diaspora players are increasingly choosing to play for their second citizenship instead. [0] - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/nov/25/cristiano-r...

antiloper

No way, the soccer federations are corrupt? I'm shocked, I tell you.

CodingJeebus

International football has to be one of the most corrupt communities in sports, which is saying something. Between bribing WC officials to sway votes on World Cup locations and awarding the tournament to a country that saw 6,500 deaths of workers building the stadiums[0], to implementing dynamic pricing at the current World Cup, a move like this feels very par for the course for these guys. 0: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/r...

baggachipz

> U.S. President Donald Trump called FIFA to ask it to review the case Gotta cash in that Peace Prize sometimes, I guess > saying world soccer's governing body had "crossed a red line" and undermined the integrity of the game Ah yes, the bastion of integrity defending truth and justice.

phlipski

The rules need to be updated to better ensure accurate calls. If we can agree that Balogun's red card was overkill because his trip wasn't intentional then there should be a way to reverse the call. And Maradona's "hand of god" goal should have been reversed as well. There should be MORE than one ref on the pitch during these games. And spare me the, "This is how's it's always been" argument... It's the World Cup. Let's do better!

banannaise

Between this and the C.Ronaldo decision, I wonder if we're headed toward a future change to the automatic red card suspension. Part of what makes a red seem extreme for certain fouls is the automatic suspension. The point of the suspension is to discourage deliberately violent actions when the current match isn't a major concern (i.e. late in games that aren't close, or when the result is largely immaterial). That obviously isn't the case here.

radiator

It is tough for Belgium, but I don't expect them to protest too strongly and risk waking up with +10% tariffs on products they export to the USA.

bastard_op

It's probably going to come down to a whale bet on Polymarket, and Trump owed someone a call back.

freitasm

The corruption is everywhere, small and large. You can't trust the game is not fixed now and you can't trust the government either.

JohnTHaller

Convicted fraud pressures organization with multiple historical fraudulent activities and convictions to commit fraud

tzs

Maybe it would have been better for Team USA if it had not been reversed. Before the reversal the oddsmakers were putting USA vs Belgium at even or slightly in Belgium's favor. After the reversal the oddsmakers had USA as a slight but clear favorite. I'd expect that if it had not been reversed it might have made USA feel like underdogs with something to prove which sometimes can inspire better play. Also it made have made Belgium overly confident knowing USA was missing its best scorer, which can lead to sloppy play. After the reversal and the change in the odds USA might have been less inspired and Belgium might have been fired up. Anyway, whether or not the reversal affected the outcome Belgium slaughtered USA, 4-1, and USA is out. This annoys me, in a very American way, because whenever USA won a World Cup game Subway was giving a "USA Wins" coupon in their app for a footlong sub for something like $7.99.