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The Sports Chief of European Union, Glenn Micallef, said that decisions on sports belong with sporting bodies and not politicians following a controversial decision of FIFA.
The EU has reacted sharply at FIFA’s decision to overturn the suspension of Falorin Balogun (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
EU’s Sports Chief Glenn Micallef on Monday sharply criticised the alleged intervention of President Donald Trump which led to the overturing of the decision of suspending US striker Florin Balogun. The EU Sports Chief said that decisions regarding sports belong to sporting bodies and not politicians.
On July 1, Balogun was suspended for one game when the United States played against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a round of 32 match. He was set to miss the next round of 16 match but then FIFA made a controversial decision to delay that suspension for a year, allowing Balogun to play.
EU’s Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Culture, and Sports, Glenn Micallef, said that though he believes the decision to show Balogun the straight red card, which triggered the one-game ban on him, was wrong, the alleged intervention by the US President undermined FIFA’s autonomy.
ALSO READ: UEFA slams FIFA over Balogun ban suspension after Trump’s intervention
“I have always been clear. Decisions on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians. Influencing sporting decisions would undermine the autonomy of sport,” he said.
He instead asked for focus to directed at “real governance challenges facing sport, including the weaponisation of sport for political purposes.”
What Happened
On July 1, Balogun challenged the Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic and stepped on his ankles. After a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, the referee gave Balogun a straight red card.
Many believe, that though the contact with the defender’s ankle was real, it was not serious enough to get a red card and trigger a one-game suspension. President Trump, reportedly, leaned on FIFA to overturn the decision.
Union of European Football Associations’ Reaction
Today, the UEFA said that this decision crossed a red line. The body also called the decision, in a public statement, “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and expressed “disbelief”.
“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” the UEFA said in its statement.
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” the statement said.
The German junior minister for sports Christiane Schenderlein told AFP that they think politics has “no place on the pitch”.
“Refereeing decisions are a matter for sport. Politics has no place on the pitch,” she said, and added, “the German government respects the autonomy of sport.”
Brussels, Belgium
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