UEFA criticizes FIFA for withdrawing Balogun's red card: "A red line has been crossed"

Barcelona"Unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable". These are just some of the adjectives used by UEFA to criticize the FIFA decision, which this Sunday decided to pardon the North American forward Florian Balogun so that he can play against Belgium in the round of 16 of the World Cup that is being played, precisely, in the United States. In a statement, the European body considers that "a red line has been crossed" and that "when the certainty of the rules is no longer guaranteed, the integrity of the game is called into question".

In the text, UEFA justifies that "football, like any other sport, is based on rules that are the pillar of fair, honest and transparent competition" and says that "sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case, no".

UEFA's reaction, explained in part by the poor relationship between the two bodies, is also a result of the backstory of this FIFA decision, as it was "US President Donald Trump" who interfered so that an article of the regulations allowing any sanction to be suspended at any time would be applied. An existing regulation but one that, since 1962, had not been applied during the course of a World Cup. Precisely, Trump celebrated the decision on his official Truth account and expressed his gratitude to FIFA "for doing the right thing" and reversing what he considered "a great injustice".

On the other hand, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has received the decision "with surprise" and assures it is "studying all possible options", without specifying. Rudi Garcia, the Belgian coach, was dumbfounded and joked that it must have been April Fools' Day when he learned that Balogun could play.