In a couple of days, we will be a week removed from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But people are discussing some things that happened during the World Cup long after. And one of those things is Folarin Balogun’s red card incident and how things unfolded. Things are now moving forward in that case as the Norwegian FA has also stepped in.
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“Norwegian FA is considering filing a formal complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee over the decision to allow Folarin Balogun to play in the World Cup round of 16 tie for the USA against Belgium… after an intervention from Donald Trump, the USA president, the one-match ban was suspended for 12 months,” said the reporter on Sky Sports News.
The World Cup ended for the USA after they were trashed 4-1 by Belgium in the Round of 16. But the biggest talking point coming into that game and after that game was the Round of 32. And now the Norwegian FA have moved forward with what they had said and are planning to file an ethics complaint over Folarin Balogun‘s controversial red card reversal.
Although no one has filed a formal complaint yet, the issue continues to grow.
Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness believes that the decision to reverse a red card simply can’t be ignored.
“First of all, it should not have happened. It is very important now to have honest communication around it. We all know that this verdict was influenced by external forces and did not have the proper process. We need our leader in FIFA to say that this was an error.”
The board will meet on August 6th to decide if they want to submit an ethics complaint. Norway is also considering combining the red card incident matter with its complaint about FIFA’s Peace Prize award to Donald Trump.
All this began with Folarin Balogun’s red card against Bosnia for fouling Tarik Muharemović, and the call itself was the right one. Even after that, the USA controlled the match at home and added a second goal, but the bigger test came in the Round of 16 against Belgium.
Many USA fans were worried because they were going into the big clash without their top goalscorer.
But days before the game, everything changed. Reports came out saying that FIFA had decided to reserve the red card for Folarin Balogun, and he was available for the Belgium game. They had changed the one-game ban to a one-year probationary period.
Things got worse after Donald Trump confirmed that he was involved in the whole thing. Donald Trump confirmed that he contacted Gianni Infantino over the red card incident and wanted him to investigate the matter again.
Just days after that call, the officials reversed the red card decision.
Even after those reports, FIFA said that President Trump was not involved and that an independent investigation took place. And even when Belgium sent a complaint about this incident, FIFA completely rejected it. The problem is that this will open a can of worms that will make things worse.
Klaveness warned, “When you bend a rule like this, you’re on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk.”
This concern is that every team that gets into a situation like this will want the same treatment from FIFA. However, it’s yet to be seen what the end of these discussions will bring.
