There is a fundamental question that many people are asking now. As?
FIFA’s disciplinary code states that Balogun should receive a ban of “at least two matches for serious foul play.”
In fact, World Cup rules do not allow teams to appeal a red card.
FIFA’s statement offered no reason or explanation for suspending Balogun’s ban. He simply cited “article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code.”
Article 27 allows FIFA to “fully or partially suspend the application of a disciplinary measure.”
It is a wide-ranging rule that allows FIFA to effectively make any decision it wants without having to meet any other criteria.
Article 27 had never been used before in a World Cup.
Furthermore, Balogun’s suspended ban is only for one match, not two, according to the disciplinary code. This has not been explained.
BBC Sport has asked why this happened.
But no reasoning was provided to us. We are simply addressing Cristiano Ronaldo’s suspended ban ahead of this tournament.
Under FIFA’s disciplinary code, Ronaldo should have received a three-match suspension for elbowing Dara O’Shea during Portugal’s 2-0 loss to the Republic of Ireland in November.
He served one match in the final qualifying match against Armenia, but the remaining two matches of the ban were suspended.
Ronaldo’s red card, however, was received in the qualifying phase. It was not a red card in a World Cup.
There have been many cases of players being shown some leniency before a tournament, not just Ronaldo.
See the Frenchman Laurent Koscielny in 2014, or the Ecuadorian Moisés Caicedo and the Argentine Nicolás Otamendi before this World Cup.
At least with Ronaldo we had some justification: FIFA said it had taken into account that “he did not receive red cards in his other 225 international matches.”
With Balogun we didn’t even get that.
It has left a vacuum of information that can only lead to speculation.
Why was this a special case? What factors were taken into account? Who made the decision?
BBC Sport has been told there is no suggestion that the referee has asked for the suspension to be lifted or that video assistant referee protocol has not been respected.
In England, the Football Association would publish full written reasons.
The United States has the right to ask FIFA to publish them, Belgium does not.
BBC Sport pundit Micah Richards, a former England defender, said it was a farce.
“Having him suspended for a year is a mockery of the entire tournament,” he said.
“It’s about keeping the big stars in the competition. How can that happen? FIFA needs to do better.
“It’s left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
Belgium, of course, is furious. They issued a statement on Sunday saying they were “stunned” that Balogun had been cleared to play.
The Belgian Federation referred to various regulations, workshop presentations and coordination meetings prior to the tournament.
They are convinced that the decision contradicts the tournament regulations, which state that a player “will be automatically suspended from his team’s next match.”
In fact, they say that FIFA used its disciplinary code to override competition rules.
The Belgian coach, Rudi García, went further in a press conference. He said, “I didn’t know [at] The FIFA World Cup on July 5 is now April 1, and that’s April Fool’s Day.
“We do not defend the national team or the federation, we defend football.”
What must the other players expelled from this tournament be thinking?
Take Qatar’s Assim Madibo, who was involved in an unfortunate incident that resulted in a broken leg of Canadian midfielder Ismael Kone.
There is a clear case here that Madibo did not even make a challenge, that the injury occurred by chance and not by the nature of the tackle.
However, FIFA handed Madibo a five-match ban, three more on top of the standard penalty for serious foul play.