FIFA World Cup: Folarin Balogun breaks silence: ‘I know the overturn of the ban will cause a lot of controversy’ | Football News
Folarin Balogun finally spoke. His words are honest and ring as loud as the controversy surrounding him.The US forward admitted this week that he knew the president Donald TrumpIntervening to overturn his one-match ban from the World Cup would cause significant controversy and the consequences were clearly affecting his team-mates just days before the last-16 tie against Belgium.During the United States’ round-of-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Tarik Muharemovic. FIFA’s disciplinary committee subsequently suspended the one-match ban for 12 months, a decision that came after Trump publicly admitted he had personally intervened on behalf of Balogun and the United States co-hosts. The move immediately sparked fierce criticism from fans, players and governing bodies around the world.Now, Balogun spoke directly about it all in an interview with CBS.“My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back on the team, but when I started to reflect on it, I knew it was going to be a lot of controversy and I could almost see my teammates being a little nervous because it was such a unique thing,” Balogun said. “The closer the game gets, the harder I try to focus, but it’s difficult. There’s a lot of noise out there and it’s hard to avoid.”Balogun is clear that his teammates have rallied around him throughout the storm. “They gave me a lot of assurance,” he said. “It’s not something I can change. It’s just an unfortunate situation and it gives me confidence.”As for the red card itself, Balogun still insists it was a wrong call. “I’m shocked. It wasn’t even a tackle. If it wasn’t intentional, it shouldn’t have been a red card. It put more pressure on us than we needed to,” he said. The United States lost 2-1 to Belgium in the Round of 16, with Balogun starting. FIFA has still not publicly explained why the ban was suspended.Meanwhile, the controversy has escalated far beyond football. On Tuesday, human rights group FairSquare submitted a formal complaint to the International Olympic Committee, accusing FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has been an IOC member since 2020, of violating the Olympic Charter and the International Olympic Committee’s Code of Ethics in his handling of the Balogun incident.
Post Comment