Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThen quizzed on how the reversal came to be, Pochettino said it was a \u201cnormal process\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Federation for sure was working really hard,\u201c he continued. \u201c[U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson] and the whole federation working on trying to defend our situation and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was focusing on trying to prepare the team to face to Belgium, working in different options, working in trying to be focusing and to play tomorrow with our best, in our best condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Balogun decision is not unprecedented.<\/p>\n
Brazil\u2019s Garrincha was sent off in the 1962 World Cup semi-final against hosts Chile in the semi-final, but played in the final as Brazil defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago.<\/p>\n
Garrincha was cleared because back then, a player did not receive an automatic ban for a red card.<\/p>\n
Their case instead went to a tribunal, who determined their fate.<\/p>\n
It was believed in that instance 64 years ago the verdict was impacted by political pressure.<\/p>\n
Another example is more recent.<\/p>\n
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo should not have featured in the opening two group games of this World Cup.<\/p>\n
The 41-year-old was handed a three-match ban in qualifying for elbowing Ireland\u2019s Dara O\u2019Shea in November last year.<\/p>\n
It was later reduced to a one-match ban with the two others suspended.<\/p>\n
Such decisions have led to people questioning the integrity of football\u2019s card system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the next red card? What happens then?\u201d Norway coach St\u00e5le Solbakken said after his side\u2019s 2-1 win against Brazil on Monday morning. <\/p>\n
\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
The USA\u2019s upcoming opponents, Belgium, are understandably furious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that in the offices of FIFA the 5th of July was the 1st of April in Europe,\u201d Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said through a translator in an April Fools\u2019 Day comparison.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Belgian federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team, She defends football in general, she defends her integrity, her ethics.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was \u201castonished\u201d by the reversal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations,\u201d their statement read.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those options may include a bitter legal battle with several reports suggesting Belgium will be willing to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n
The Swiss-based body typically deals with doping matters, but in this case would hear an appeal of FIFA\u2019s decision based on Article 27 of their disciplinary committee rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. By suspending the implementation of the sanction, the judicial body subjects the person sanctioned to a probationary period of one to four years,\u201d the rule states.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between USA and Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs a result, Pochettino argued that FIFA were simply using their discretion to reward the US for their good behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lesson is if you behave well, maybe you will be rewarded,\u201d Pochettino said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s fantastic to have that mindset. I am so happy that he act in this way and he took that decision because sometimes, when you are upset after the game and you feel in some point knowing that it was unfair to everything, but you have a small percentage of you feel guilty about this type of situation. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think he did very well and manage [the situation] and I am so happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, Pochettino was unwilling to engage in discussions about Trump\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n
When asked if he believed it was appropriate that Trump contacted Infantino, Pochettino replied: \u201cWe cannot mix that. That is a decision of from the FIFA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many in the US media have been quickly to point out the irony on this situation.<\/p>\n
Balogun is an American citizen by birth, but grew up in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
He emerged from Arsenal\u2019s academy, represented England at youth level, but was recruited to wear the Stars and Stripes three years ago.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old, who plays his club football for Monaco, was born in New York only because his mother was not permitted to fly home to London due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n
She was seven months pregnant at the time and they eventually returned to London when Balogun was two months old.<\/p>\n
Just last week, Trump lost a Supreme Court case challenging birthright citizenship.<\/p>\n
A majority of justices ruled that individuals, like Balogun, who were born in the US are US citizens. <\/p>\n
It came after Trump issued an executive order last year in an attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.<\/p>\n
Politics is running through the veins of this matter.<\/p>\n
Balogun will take the pitch on Tuesday morning, but the issue certainly will not be resolved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USA are celebrating but much of the football world is up in arms over the news star striker Florian Balogun will be free to play against Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16. US President Donald Trump personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request football\u2019s international governing body overturn the red card Balogun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":251660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-251659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}