Belgium’s Balogun Blues

Belgium’s Balogun Blues

One of my pre-tournament fears has sadly come true

The moment Balogun (Number 20) was sent off vs Bosnia (Credit: ITVSport YouTube Channel)

In the blink of an eye, just ten teams remain at the World Cup. Mexico and Canada have entertained, but both bowed out in the Round of 16. This has also coincided with the end of their hosting duties for the tournament.

The product on show has been *very entertaining for fans and neutrals alike. I’m writing this in a semi-sleep-deprived state, the morning after England’s heroic effort in beating Mexico at the footballing mecca, the Estadio Azteca*.

But this is not to say I had some concerns heading into the tournament. The issues surrounding Iran, fans not being able to obtain visas to enter the USA, and ticket prices have all been well-documented.

The fear that I hoped wouldn’t come to fruition… corruption. Sadly, this has come to the fore.

So, how does corruption involve Belgium and Folarin Balogun?

Belgium and the USA play each other in the round of 16. The ‘Red Devils’ can count themselves lucky to still be at the World Cup.

Despite topping Group G (Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand), Belgium has underwhelmed the most. Belgium tied Egypt and Iran before a 5–1 win against New Zealand, ranked 86th in the FIFA rankings.

Belgium’s reward? One of the best third-place teams in the Round of 32. Sounds good. The bad news? It drew Senegal.

Belgium was outclassed. Down 2–0 with 85 minutes played, Belgium was heading back to Brussels.

During the second half hydration break, winger Leandro Trossard and captain Youri Tielemans were arguing. But football’s a funny old game.

Veteran Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku scored to pull a goal back, and as the clock hit 90 minutes, Tielemans headed one in the net from a Trossard cross. Extra-time awaited.

Belgium was buoyed, and its resolve paid off. A lengthy VAR review resulted in a penalty in the 125th minute of the game. Tielemans nailed it, from the spot for a goal, sending Belgium to the round of 16.

The USA, meanwhile, has had a more straightforward tournament. Despite losing to Turkiye in the group stages, wins against Paraguay and Australia were enough for top spot in its group. Its reward? Bosnia and Herzegovina.

US striker Folarin Balogun, who is starring in the tournament with three goals, gave the United States the lead just before half-time. His evening, however, would take a turn for the worse.

Sixty-four minutes in and trying to control a pass, Balogun trod on the ankle of Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic. After a VAR review, the American was sent off.

This was inconsequential for the rest of the match. Malik Tillman scored in the 82nd minute to secure the win. Belgium awaits in Seattle.

Balogun would have to serve a one-match ban, meaning he would miss this game. Well, that’s what we thought would happen.

In the days leading up to the tie, Balogun’s one-match ban was suspended, citing Article 27 of the FIFA rules. This means FIFA can “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”As a rule, this is unfair and something I would scrap.

Whether Balogun should have been sent off or not, I’m not sure. Yes, it's harsh that he was sent off, especially since Lionel Messi, who committed a similar but worse challenge against Algeria, got away without a card, which shows the double standards of the officiating.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo has already benefited from this rule in this World Cup. Following a red card against Ireland in last year’s World Cup qualifying, Ronaldo had a three-game ban. This meant he should have missed Portugal’s first two games of this tournament.

But no. This unfair Article 27 was used and allowed Ronaldo to get away with violent conduct scot-free.

Regardless of whether I agree with this being in place or not is irrelevant. The major issue comes down to the fact that United States President Donald Trump personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino. This is the issue of corruption that I have.

Infantino is someone who bows down to Trump at his beck and call. In what can only be described as Infantino being a sycophant, with there being plenty of examples.

The fact that FIFA, a football organisation, created a peace prize that was won by Trump to stop his meltdowns from not winning the Nobel Peace Prize last year. This is something FIFA’s ethics committee investigated Infantino for due to breaking rules surrounding political neutrality.

Infantino was also investigated by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) for violating Olympic Charter rules on political neutrality in February this year, following his appearance at Trump’s Board of Peace meeting. During the meeting, Infantino was spotted with a “USA” cap (he’s a national of Switzerland, Italy, and Lebanon) that also featured “45–47”, acknowledging Trump’s presidencies.

The fact that one person in power can easily influence one of the most powerful people in sport in control of one of the largest sporting competitions, is disgusting. This now sets an ugly precedent.

England’s Jarrell Quansah was rightly sent off against Mexico. By this logic, then, can England manager Thomas Tuchel ask Sir Keir Starmer for one of his last acts as Prime Minister to ask Infantino to rescind Quansah’s red card?

What about those that have already been sent off so far? Belgium’s Julien Ngoy was sent off against Iran. Does he get a reprieve?

Can a one-game ban as a result of yellow cards be suspended to a more convenient time? Nobody dares miss one of the later-stage matches in a World Cup.

For Belgium, it feels rightly aggrieved. Manager Rudi Garcia said, “I didn’t know that July 5 was equal to April 1 at FIFA,” and I’d have to agree. The sporting integrity of the USA-Belgium match has been shot to pieces.

For Balogun, he’s been caught in the crossfire of a situation that didn’t need to happen. He’d accepted his fate, but President Trump hadn’t. There is, I must add, an irony of Trump going to all this effort for a player who has US citizenship via birthright, while Trump is trying to get birthright citizenship removed from the US Constitution.

I feel sorry for Ricardo Pepi. I can’t imagine what that must feel like to be a player, primed to take Balogun’s position in the team, only to then have it removed. A decision that tells the world, “Your President doesn’t think you’re good enough.”

This is the most blatant form of overt corruption in the World Cup since Argentina’s triumph in 1978. The tournament was overshadowed by the political manipulation of Argentina’s match against Peru. Argentina, needing a 4–0 win to qualify for the final, beat Peru 6–0 with Argentine-born Ramon Quiroga in goal for Peru.

I love it when a host nation does well at a major tournament. It just makes the feel of the tournament as a whole a lot better.

Canada and Mexico have both delivered on their part. Everything that the USA has done up to their win against Bosnia has been delivered on its part.

Everything that the USA does now in this World Cup will be tainted with corruption allegations and ruin a chance for history. A chance to further grow football in America.

For the sake of football, I hope Belgium prevails.

I have a feeling this may not be the case.

Thanks for reading my story.