r/football

>Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line.

>Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not. A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension.

>When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.

>Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.

>We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.

https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/02a7-2109c8e9ef81-de5a993db109-1000--uefa-statement-on-the-balogun-case/

https://sporza.be/nl/2026/07/06/plots-is-er-een-slide-weg-fifa-laat-veelbesproken-regel-magisch-verdwijnen-uit-presentatie-aan-duivels~1783311603113/

Translated to English:

>As if the rule never existed. After the Balogun controversy, FIFA seems to be doing everything it can to conceal the original provision regarding red cards. In the standard presentation to the teams, a slide had suddenly disappeared.

>If a player or staff member is sent off, they will automatically be suspended for the next match.

>That little sentence was emphatically drilled into all teams at this World Cup on the eve of a match. It could be read in a presentation by a FIFA representative to a small group of team officials.

>The rule was on a slide regarding "warnings and exclusions".

>Based on that, Folarin Balogun should therefore always have been suspended against the Red Devils. Until the FIFA Disciplinary Committee intervened yesterday.

>On Sunday evening, American time, the Belgian federation received another presentation from FIFA ahead of the match against the US.

>This time without the specific explanation regarding automatic suspensions.

>Striking. As if the world football governing body wants to pretend the rule never existed.

It's difficult to take practical action against FIFA. Boycotting by not watching is hard.

Signing this petition is something you can do to take action. It an ongoing investigation against the corruption and ethics of FIFA.

With the recent scandal around the Balogun suspension it is yet another sign of Infantino having his own agenda with a willingness to bend the rules as he sees fit.

https://rebootfifa.com/sign/

I’ve seen some posts about Mbappe being Ballon d’Or favourite?!? Can anyone justify this? Haaland isn’t even being mentioned in the ballondor conversation despite a having a better season than Mbappe. But Haaland aside, Harry Kane is so far ahead of those two this season and has been the best player in the world. I find it very hard to see an argument against Kane for Ballond’Or and I can’t see any argument for Mbappe.

They didn't even contest the foul or that it was a Red Card, invoking an obscure rule that was never used in World Cup this way.

Infantino OUT.

https://www.goal.com/en/lists/usmnt-striker-folarin-balogun-has-one-game-suspension-suspended-following-bosnia-and-herzegovina-red-card-will-be-available-to-face-belgium/blt7147d65a250b351d