The contact between Balogun and the Bosnian player was clearly incidental, with both going for the ball, leading to the awkward foot placement.Players, coaches, and analysts all agreed that the red card was harsh at best, and inaccurately given at worst.Mauricio Pochettino said it was unjust.Weston McKennie said something similar."Obviously the referee made a decision that he made, but I think it’s questionable," McKennie explained.
"I think there’s been many other plays like that throughout the tournament on other players that a card wasn’t given at all.It’s disappointing."YES, THE UNITED STATES WAS TREATED UNFAIRLY BY THE CONTROVERSIAL FOLARIN BALOGUN RED CARD DECISIONFolarin Balogun scored two goals in his first World Cup game for the US.
(Getty Images)And a former top-level referee wrote that the entire process was against FIFA's own rules."VAR made their recommendation to the referee based on slow-motion and still replays, which is not aligned with VAR protocols, as these should be used for only point-of-contact purposes in a red card tackle situation," said Andy Davies, a referee who worked in the Premier League and Championship and was a Select Group referee for over 12 seasons.On Sunday, FIFA apparently agreed.News broke that FIFA had overturned Balogun's red card suspension, allowing him to play against Belgium in Seattle on Monday night, despite there being no process allowing the USMNT or US Soccer to appeal the card.So how did this happen?An arcane rule, known as Article 27, the "Suspension of Implementation of Disciplinary Measures," allowed for FIFA to review the automatic red card suspension, and essentially delay it for a year."By operation of Article 27 FDC, the implementation of the automatic suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one [1] year," the soccer governing body said in a statement.
Article 27 says that "1.The judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation ...