There's a dramatic turn of events ahead of the USA-Belgium match : American centre-forward Folarin Balogun will be able to take the field, despite the red card he received against Bosnia.
For Balogun, FIFA has announced that Article 27 of the Disciplinary Code was applied , which provides for a suspension period of the disciplinary sanction from one to four years, during which a repeat offence reactivates the disqualification, plus any new sanctions.
The 25-year-old striker, the USA's top scorer at the World Cup with three goals, was sent off in the 19th minute of the second half of the match against Bosnia for a foul on Muharemovic: a so-called 'step-on' challenge, essentially a stamping on the ball, which earned him a red card.
The referee's decision had provoked protests from American fans , many of whom, paradoxically, had asked Trump on social media to intervene with a pardon.
And Trump's words arrived today: " Thank you to FIFA for acting fairly and correcting a grave injustice! " the tycoon wrote on his social media account, Truth.
PRECEDENTS – The immediate precedent for the application of Article 27—the one cited by FIFA for Balogun, according to which the ban can be suspended for one to four years on a probationary period—is the one against Cristiano Ronaldo, but it was applied before the start of the World Cup. The Portuguese striker had been suspended for three matches for an elbow on Ireland's O'Shea in qualifying, but two matches were subsequently suspended to ensure the striker didn't miss the World Cup opener.
The case of Garrincha, Brazil's all-time champion at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, was sensational: the Brazilian winger was sent off in the semi-final against Chile for a reactive foul, but in the wake of the protests throughout Brazil for a national hero, FIFA pardoned him, allowing him to play (and win) the final for the Selecao's second title.
THE RULES – In recent years, FIFA has also amended its rules on cards to prevent suspensions from preventing players from missing key matches: the latest rules establish that yellow cards are reset after the first phase and after the quarter-finals, thus preventing the sum of bookings from the semi-final and final.
(Unioneonline/vl)
