LONDON (The Guardian) - The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) intends to make a formal complaint to FIFA over United States President Donald Trump’s role in the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card.
NFF president Lise Klaveness confirmed the plans to raise the issue, which follows her federation’s backing of December’s ethical complaint in relation to FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s decision to award President Trump the FIFA Peace Prize.
U.S. men’s national team striker Balogun was sent off during his side’s last-32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which should have resulted in him being banned for the last-16 tie with Belgium. Despite there being no formal process or precedent to appeal the sanction, The Athletic exclusively revealed the day before the game that FIFA had suspended the ban. Trump later confirmed he called Infantino to ask for a review of the striker’s suspension.
“This case was so serious and so worrying that I hope that it might contribute to bring people out a little bit and don’t fear to bring up cases,” Klaveness said in an interview with The Times of London. “I will bring it to a board meeting and discuss with my board, and then we do it (complain).”
Klaveness said it was widely acknowledged the decision was “influenced” by “external forces” without due process and argued the working around of rules put the fundamentals of the game in jeopardy.
FIFA has said that the decision was made by an independent disciplinary committee. The Athletic reported that the Trump administration and lawyers it recruited were part of a coordinated lobbying effort that put pressure on FIFA to rule in Balogun’s favor.
The complaint could create further scrutiny for Infantino and FIFA’s decision-making process. Norway has previously joined another ethics complaint involving allegations against the FIFA president. That complaint questioned Infantino’s alleged political neutrality and relationship with Trump.