I would expect any leader of a country to do the same thing. And that red card was complete rubbish. It should have been overturned by review.
Good god, I wouldn’t. The leaders of countries should pay attention to what’s important and not meddle in sporting events. If Putin had made a phone call to overturn a call in some tournament, that would be just fine? No way. It’s bully bullshit, per usual.
There’s some speculation that Russian players were doping during their WC and everyone looked the other way, but that should be shameful, not expected.
I can guarantee that if any German chancellor had pulled that off, they would have been ridiculed mercilessly by the press and everyone else. Of course no political leader should have any influence over decisions in sports like that, and if, by any chance, the USA should win this cup, this will be held against them forever.
Yes but that’s Trump in a nutshell. He sticks his 2 cents in on everything. But I don’t think FIFA gives a crap about Trump. It was an obvious bad call. I imagine the line of people complaining was long and loud. Trump just likes taking credit for things like the Sun rising. He’s a walking bad optics.
It is one thing if it was overturned, like the day of (or the next morning) of the match. It might still be wrong, but it makes more sense as it would indicate someone reviewing video of the play. But having it happen conveniently before a match? That is nonsense.
//i\\
The worst thing about this is that the US weren’t remotely out of this without Balogun. Pepi and Haji both had decent years. Pepi hasn’t been great this tournament, but can always bounce back. It would have been a wonderful story of grit to win against Belgium, now if they win it’s just tainted.
That’s what I said (well, it was my wife’s idea), about 30 posts ago. 
Mexico-England has been delayed 1 hour due to storms in the area. It’s now scheduled for 9:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm PT.
Neymar announced his retirement.
I disagree. I think it would be tainted if the penalty stood. It’s a big deal to lose a player. It should have been reviewed at the time it occurred. If the coaches have any sway on officiating the US coach should object to that referee going forward.
It was.
It should have been reviewed and DISMISSED. There was nothing to indicate a deliberate action. Tarik Muharemovic wasn’t injured and continued playing.
Intent is not pertinent for SFP.
Also not a consideration.
Damn. That’s 02:00 BST. Too late for me, I think.
I think the weird thing about the Balogun decision is that the red card was not rescinded. The ban has been suspended for a year. I cannot think of any precedent for that.
The red card was very harsh, so I would at least understand it if they rescinded it.
Multiple red cards have been suspended for this tournament. That’s not the bad part.
The news that tRump had his hands in this just taints the whole situation. I want the US to win, but I want them to win honestly.
It has to be. If someone falls on another player and breaks their leg it’s an accident. Intent has a great deal to do with it. You can’t lay blame on an accident. This was a non-event.
Not by the Laws of the Game, it doesn’t. The question really is whether or not Balogun was reckless in the challenge. You can argue that he wasn’t reckless, which is, IMO, a possible defense. But intent has no sway in the referee’s decision in this case.