Journalistic reports have exploded a major surprise, that the decision to cancel the suspension of the United States national team striker, Folarin Balogun, was taken by the head of the Disciplinary Committee of the International Football Association (FIFA), the Emirati Mohammed Al-Kamali, alone.
The British newspaper "The Times" explained that the decision to cancel Balogun's suspension was issued directly, and without involving any of the other seventeen members of the Disciplinary Committee.
Al-Kamali issued the decision alone, despite the sensitivity of the case, in a step that violated all sparked widespread controversy, in light of resorting to implementing the automatic suspension against any player who receives a red card, which opened the door to criticism against "FIFA" and the feasibility and mechanism of its implementation of the regulations.
The Disciplinary Committee's decision had ruled to suspend Balogun for one match, with the suspension of the penalty for a period of one year under probation, so that the player could participate against Belgium, in the round of 16 of the World Cup, but the latter won by a score of 4-1 against America.
It is worth noting that Balogun's expulsion occurred during the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to a violent tackle, and the penalty for violent tackles usually requires a two-match suspension, which was not applied to the player.
For his part, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that he personally intervened with Gianni Infantino, President of the International Football Association "FIFA", regarding the red card that Balogun received.
Balogun's intervention sparked a wide wave of criticism, as the European Leagues Association "UEFA" described the decision as (unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable).
The "Times" report stated that the International Football Association "FIFA" refused to comment when asked about the reason for Al-Kamali's unilateral decision without the participation of the rest of the committee members.
There were a large number of previous disciplinary cases in "FIFA" that were resolved by a single member, and often the vice president of the committee, the Colombian Jorge Palacio.
However, a review of more than a hundred published cases showed that Al-Kamali had never before issued a similar decision alone, while major cases were usually resolved through a body consisting of three members.
This is the first time since the adoption of automatic suspension after red cards in the World Cup, in which the implementation of this penalty is suspended, and Mohammed Al-Kamali, according to the report, refused to comment on the matter, when the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) confronted him about that controversial issue.
The 2026 World Cup will be held with the participation of 48 teams, in the United States and Canada, as "FIFA" decided to increase the participants in the tournament by 16 teams, compared to the 2022 edition which witnessed the participation of only 32 teams.
