Scott Wood said what’s most concerning about FIFA suspending Florian Balogun’s one-game ban is the lack of transparency around the decision.
On July 1, the U.S. men’s team’s top scorer for the World Cup received a suspension after receiving a red card for stepping on the ankle of a player from Bosnia. The ruling at the time said that Balogun would be out for the July 6 game against Belgium.
Since then, U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped in asking for the suspension to be reviewed and now Balogun will be present for Monday night’s game.
“All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say ‘you have to do this,'” Trump said, acknowledging he personally asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review the case.
“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump added about the red card. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”
Balogun scores U.S.’s opening goal against Bosnia and then gets red card
World Cup ref denied entry to the U.S. was about to make history for Somalia
But Wood, a St. John’s resident, whose grandfather is originally from Maryland, U.S., and still has a family connection there, doesn’t see any new information that could lead to this decision.
“Without being privy to some of the details to why the decision was reversed and they have been pretty close to the chest or cagey with those, it is hard to think of anything else,” said Wood.
Wood said he’s not the only one who thinks someone else is pulling the strings as various soccer federations, including Belgium and Europe, say the same.
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) had said it was “astonished” by FIFA’s decision to declare Balogun eligible to play in the match .
“The decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 competition regulations,” it said in a statement.
“We may not even know, if not for the president coming out and saying I had a conversation with this official,” said Wood.
Soccer fans react to presidential call on player suspension
Balogun is playing, without the red card being suspended. Pointing to article 27 of its disciplinary code, “If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement,” reads a statement from FIFA.
“This will weigh on a lot of discussion in person, online, about the implications going forward here and whether it tarnishes the sport as it is today at the current World Cup and in the future,” said Wood.
Belgium super fan, Koen Naulaerts, who lived in N.L. last year, for several months, said that when given a red card players and teams should take the consequences.
Naulaerts called the decision to see Balogun play tonight “disappointing.”
“It loses the integrity of the game that I grew up with. Getting a red card was not only damaging to the result of that day but the whole tournament,” said Naulaerts.
Naulaerts also questions where officials draw the line with Trump stepping in.
“Who is next? Is the King of England going to withdraw the red card … where does it stop,” said Naulerts.
Despite the disappointment, Naulerts said that the overall feeling from Belgium supporters is that people are ready to see a good game.
While he does feel strongly about the choice, he also doesn’t believe that it should overshadow the moment for Belgium. Naulerts thinks tonight’s game is a perfect opportunity for Belgium to show they are a strong team.
“The Belgians who will be there are going to have the best 90 minutes of their life,” said Naulerts.
However, there is a small part of him that hopes to see another red card call to see if things would transpire any differently.
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
