Masters, Webb Slam FIFA Over Balogun Red Card Reversal
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Richard Masters and Howard Webb publicly criticized FIFA's decision to overturn Folarin Balogun's automatic ban, with Masters calling it a 'self-inflicted moment' that has overshadowed the football itself.
- Folarin Balogun was shown a red card against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the last-32 match, which should have triggered an automatic two-game ban under World Cup rules with no appeal process available.
- Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to complain about the red card, prompting the ban to be suspended and allowing Balogun to play against Belgium in the last 16.
- Howard Webb said the decision was 'really troubling' and that 'pressure placed by a politician onto FIFA' was admitted, working through 'a process which seemingly didn't exist before the tournament started.'
- Richard Masters also called on FIFA to sack Infantino on Tuesday and proposed that FIFA adopt a red card review process modelled on the Premier League's, where potential miscarriages of justice can be addressed directly.
- Masters said fans should be focused on 'Spain being the best team, and England's agonising semi-final defeat' rather than the Balogun controversy, arguing the Premier League itself remains 'completely honest and legitimate' with 99% sold-out stadiums.
Why it matters: When the Premier League's CEO and England's top refereeing officer publicly attack a FIFA decision, the dispute escalates from a refereeing row into a governance crisis. Masters' call to sack Infantino and Webb's acknowledgment that 'political pressure placed by a politician onto FIFA was admitted' directly challenge FIFA's claim that the reversal was routine — threatening the credibility of the 2026 World Cup's outcomes and the trust Masters says underpins the Premier League's 99% sold-out matchdays.
Ask SkimNews
