Norway: Norway's football federation is contemplating lodging a formal complaint with FIFA's ethics committee concerning US President Donald Trump's involvement in preventing an immediate World Cup suspension for US player Folarin Balogun.
According to Anadolu Agency, Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian football federation, announced her intention to seek approval for the complaint at the federation's board meeting, expected to take place on August 6. The controversy centers around Balogun, a striker for the US national team, who was originally set to serve an automatic one-match suspension after being sent off during a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 2.
However, after a phone call from Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, FIFA deferred the suspension, permitting Balogun to participate in the subsequent match against Belgium on July 7. The US team was defeated 4-1 in that game. Trump publicly criticized the red card decision, which was confirmed after a video review, labeling it as 'horrible' and took credit for FIFA's decision to revisit the suspension.
Klaveness expressed her concerns to The Times of London, stating, "We all know that this verdict was influenced from external forces and did not have the proper process." She warned of the slippery slope created by bending the rules and urged Infantino to admit that the situation was mishandled.
The decision has drawn widespread criticism, as automatic suspensions following red cards in the World Cup have been a standard practice for decades. FIFA has yet to provide a detailed explanation of the disciplinary process leading to this decision.
In the past, Norway has supported a complaint from the London-based human rights group FairSquare, which accused Infantino of violating FIFA's political neutrality rules due to his close ties with Trump. FairSquare has also submitted a complaint to the International Olympic Committee, where Infantino holds membership, citing the Balogun case and other alleged instances of political favoritism.