The Norwegian Football Federation is considering filing a formal complaint to Fifa's ethics committee after US president Donald Trump intervened to suspend Folarin Balogun's red-card ban during the World Cup.
Federation president Lise Klaveness told the BBC the decision had prompted “strong concern” and that the board would decide whether to file a complaint at its next meeting, likely on 6 August. “We need our leader in Fifa to say that this was an error,” she told the Times.
“Norway considers formal complaint to Fifa ethics committee after Trump call suspended Balogun's World Cup ban”
Balogun, the United States forward, was shown a straight red card in the 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and was expected to miss the last-16 tie against Belgium. But after a phone call between Trump and Fifa president Gianni Infantino, the automatic one-match ban was suspended for 12 months. No reason was given beyond citing a rule that allows punishments to be suspended.
Trump later called the red card a “horrible” call and praised Fifa for “reversing a great injustice”. “I spoke to Gianni,” he said at a news conference on 6 July. Balogun started the match, which Belgium won 4-1.
Klaveness, a former Women's World Cup player and elected member of Uefa's executive committee, said the episode put the integrity of the game at risk. “When you bend a rule like this, you're on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk,” she said. “We all know that this verdict was influenced from external forces and did not have the proper process.” She added: “If you start to adapt in such a way towards state leaders and state politics, you will move your behaviour and the organisation's behaviour, and also the red line of what states' leaders should interfere with.”
The Norwegian federation has already filed a complaint about Fifa awarding its first Peace Prize to Trump. Klaveness said it was “appropriate to include the Balogun case in the inquiry to Fifa's ethics committee that we made before the World Cup regarding Fifa's so-called peace prize award”.
Infantino has maintained that Fifa's judicial bodies operate independently. “Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee could also investigate Infantino over the Balogun incident, after a human rights NGO filed an ethics complaint alleging a breach of political neutrality rules. The IOC said complaints to its ethics commission are confidential and it would only communicate sanctions if any were imposed.
The decision to suspend Balogun's ban was reportedly taken by the chairman of Fifa's disciplinary committee, Mohammad al-Kamali, without consulting other members. Klaveness, a lawyer and judge who has positioned Norway as a conscience in soccer, said: “To try to sweep this under the carpet now will not fly.”