President Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss the red card given to Team USA’s Folarin Balogun during Wednesday night’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, an person familiar with the conversation told The Hill. Trump later cheered the reversal, calling it an “injustice.”
FIFA said its independent panel overturned the red card suspension for Monday’s game.
Now show the Messi boot in someone’s calf during this tournament, and the half dozen other worse infringements that didn’t even result in a yellow card
Read my earlier response in this thread that already agrees that Messi should have also been shown a red card for his challenge. It was more intentional than this one.
Ok, but Messi didn’t get a red card. So we just get some players with different rules than others? Seems like refs are just making it up as they go, not a good look for the sport.
100%. I suspect there was “guidance” on protecting Messi given the marketing $$ and this intervention by Trump for the host country was unacceptable for an arguable valid red card.
Lol I doubt anybody reffing for FIFA needs “guidance” on that.
It’s all bullshit. Some Academy award level acting on those fields.
i saw one player BARELY get touched, and he was on the ground writhing in pain. Like??
Imagine one of these pansies playing rugby. They wouldn’t last a day.
Ok. Now show it in video instead. It was an accident. The still frame looks bad, and it probably should have been called a yellow, but it didn’t meet the criteria for a red card.
If you think it still should be a red after all that, please explain why Messi doing the same thing on purpose wasn’t.
I agree. Messi should also have received a red. The fact that he did not even get a yellow was a terrible call.
it dose not matter if it was an accident… he could have injured the player… either they are in control or they are just flailing out there like any one of us could
the usa is a fucking joke… fifa is a fucking joke… soccer is a great sport and these two loser entities are just making everything they touch worthless…
Except it does matter. Reckless unintentional fouls are still a yellow card.
I’m not going to disagree about either the US (government) in general or FIFA in specific though.
The rules are a red card can be issued for multiple Sending-off offences with one of those being Serious Foul Play.
“Serious foul play
A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play. Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force.”
International Football Association Board rules
“The Laws embody the unacceptability of unsafe play in their disciplinary phrases, e.g. ‘reckless challenge’ (caution = yellow card/YC) and ‘endangering the safety of an opponent’ or ‘using excessive force’ (sending-off = red card/RC).”
In this instance you can see how a referee would see this being beyond a reckless challenge given the potential serious injury that could have occurred.
Yes, a Red is about lunging at an opponent with excessive force in challenging for the ball. That is not what happened. He was moving sideways through the air and needed to put his foot down somewhere. His opponent was also moving sideways through the air and put his foot down in front of where Balogun was going to. If you watch the video, you can even see that the other player kicked Balogun’s foot FIRST, which changed the trajectory of Balogun’s leg, then put his leg in front of Balogun’s foot.
Sure, call it a yellow for careless play in being in the air without full control. But this was not reckless or violent.
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