United States striker Folarin Balogun says he anticipated that FIFA’s choice to lift his one-match ban for the World Cup would spark “a lot of controversy” and even create “nerves” within the squad.
The 25-year-old was sent off for serious foul play against Bosnia-Herzegovina during the last-16 stage and, by the usual rules, would have been expected to serve an automatic suspension.
Instead, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended his ban for a year. The move drew broad criticism, particularly after it was reported that US President Donald Trump and senior White House figures had lobbied football’s governing body about the sanction.
Balogun, who scored three goals at the tournament, was then cleared to start the USA’s last-16 match against Belgium. UEFA described the decision as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”
Speaking to CBS, Balogun said: “My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team, but when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to start a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my team-mates a bit of nerves because it is something that is so unique.”
He added: “The closer we got to the game, I focused the best I could, but it was difficult. The outside noise is hard to avoid.”
“My team-mates are like my brothers; they gave me a lot of reassurance. There was nothing I could do or change.”
The suspension waiver was granted just two days before the United States were beaten 4-1 by Belgium.
Balogun only learned he would be available to play while the squad was on the team bus, a moment that he said triggered “screaming and shouting” among his teammates.
Given how unlikely it was to escape an immediate ban after a straight red card, Balogun said he had not been involved in the early preparations for the match.
“It was confusing as the team was practising without me in the team. I almost played a supporting role to keep the morale high,” the Monaco striker said. “When we found out on the team bus, everyone was screaming and shouting. It was a pretty intense bus ride to the practice field.”
Although the USA lost to Belgium and Balogun did not score, he does not believe the outcome affected Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
“It was about separating the emotion from the job at hand. We are all professionals,” he said. “It was not something that was too difficult to separate once we got over the initial announcement that I would be back in the team.”
“It was a difficult game against Belgium and that can overshadow whether we are focused or not, but from being inside the camp and set-up I know we had full concentration going into the game.”
The head of FIFA’s disciplinary committee declined to respond to BBC questions about the process that led to Balogun avoiding a ban.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has previously denied having any influence over disciplinary rulings.
England’s Jarell Quansah received a similar treatment: he was shown a red card in England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico following a high challenge on Jesus Gallardo. The same committee decided he should serve a two-match suspension.
Because Quansah’s incident was also judged serious foul play, the Bayer Leverkusen player was given an additional match beyond the automatic one-game suspension.
