Folarin Balogun never, ever should have been given a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 64th-minute red card given to the USA’s star player was an utter joke, and everyone knows it. A situation that started with a bad call on the pitch turned into something entirely different as FIFA president Gianni Infantino proved, once more, what a ******* less leader he is by allowing the World Cup to be blatantly interfered with by U.S. President Donald Trump.
We’re left with one of the most staggering, shameful, corrupt situations playing out in broad daylight — and it’s effectively tainted the entire World Cup as a result. It’s a case where the ends don’t justify the means, and even though the correct decision was reached, how that decision was reached is worthy of global condemnation.
If you somehow haven’t seen the initial red card, here’s the play in question which kicked this all off.
If we break this moment down into its parts there’s simply no understanding how any professional referee would see this as a red. Balogun has his hands on defender Tarik Muharemović, but his eyes are locked on the ball. There’s no way to really intuit that Muharemović was going to slow down, which initiated the contact, and Balogun’s right leg only goes behind the defender because he’s trying to play the ball.
You can watch every single game at the World Cup and see 20 incidents like this in a game. A foul is going to be called the vast majority of the time, and it’s certainly justifiable to give Balogun a yellow card as a warning to be in control of his play. The idea that this warranted a red card, typically reserved for a clearly dangerous or reckless play is simply laughable. The idea that the decision was rendered by VAR made it even worse, because now we had a room of people making the same idiotic decision. Fans had a right to be mad, commentators had a right to criticize, and the USMNT should have had the right to appeal the card, considering it resulted in Balogun being suspended in the quarter-finals.
We’re left with one of the most staggering, shameful, corrupt situations playing out in broad daylight — and it’s effectively tainted the entire World Cup as a result. It’s a case where the ends don’t justify the means, and even though the correct decision was reached, how that decision was reached is worthy of global condemnation.
If you somehow haven’t seen the initial red card, here’s the play in question which kicked this all off.
If we break this moment down into its parts there’s simply no understanding how any professional referee would see this as a red. Balogun has his hands on defender Tarik Muharemović, but his eyes are locked on the ball. There’s no way to really intuit that Muharemović was going to slow down, which initiated the contact, and Balogun’s right leg only goes behind the defender because he’s trying to play the ball.
You can watch every single game at the World Cup and see 20 incidents like this in a game. A foul is going to be called the vast majority of the time, and it’s certainly justifiable to give Balogun a yellow card as a warning to be in control of his play. The idea that this warranted a red card, typically reserved for a clearly dangerous or reckless play is simply laughable. The idea that the decision was rendered by VAR made it even worse, because now we had a room of people making the same idiotic decision. Fans had a right to be mad, commentators had a right to criticize, and the USMNT should have had the right to appeal the card, considering it resulted in Balogun being suspended in the quarter-finals.
27 days ago
