FIFA faces Norwegian protest over Balogun red‑card ruling

FIFA has received an official complaint from the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) over the handling of American striker Folarin Balogun’s red card at the World Cup round of 16 against Bosnia & Herzegovina. The protest argues the decision, which was altered after political pressure, endangers the sport’s integrity.

Balogun was shown a red card in the last‑16 match, which would have ruled him out of the quarter‑final against Belgium.

Following intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump, FIFA converted the ban into a conditional suspension, allowing the American to be available for the game versus the Red Devils.

Lise Klaveness said, "Anyone who breaks such a rule is treading a dangerous path and endangers the whole sport," as reported by The Times. "First of all, this should not have happened. It is now very important to communicate about this openly and honestly. We all know this verdict was influenced by external forces and that the proper procedure was not followed. We need our FIFA leader to say that this was a mistake." She added, "If you adapt in that way to the attitude of government leaders and politics, you change your own behaviour and that of the organisation, and you also shift the boundary of what government leaders may or may not involve themselves in," and concluded, "And that happened."

The Norwegian federation has not indicated whether the complaint will lead to any sanctions against FIFA.