Masters, Webb slam FIFA over Balogun red card U-turn — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Richard Masters and Howard Webb jointly criticized FIFA for the U-turn that allowed USA striker Folarin Balogun to play on at the 2026 World Cup despite a red card that should have triggered an automatic two-game ban
- Folarin Balogun was sent off in the last-32 match against Bosnia & Herzegovina, earning an automatic suspension under World Cup rules with no appeal process
- Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to complain, and FIFA then suspended the ban through what Webb described as 'a process which seemingly didn't exist before the tournament started'
- Howard Webb said the situation showed 'pressure placed by a politician onto FIFA' and argued it undermined faith in football at all levels of the game
- Richard Masters said on Tuesday that FIFA should sack Infantino, called the episode a 'self-inflicted moment' by FIFA, and questioned why FIFA lacks a red card review process like the Premier League's
- Masters said the controversy meant the sporting narrative was lost, noting 'we should be looking back on… Spain being the best team, and England's agonising semi-final defeat' instead
Why it matters: Two of English football's most senior figures openly attacking FIFA's handling of a World Cup disciplinary decision — taken under admitted political pressure from the US president — heaps public pressure on Infantino and amplifies calls for FIFA to adopt a red card review process comparable to the Premier League's.
Ask SkimNews
