FIFA council expected to bar disciplinary panels from overturning suspensions after Balogun row

Mixed · 2FIFA's council is expected to change a rule that let a red card for US forward Folarin Balogun be overturned at this year's World Cup, according to media reports on the agenda for its Thursday meeting in Zurich. 1 2 Left · 1Al Jazeera says the 37-member council is expected to vote on whether to prohibit disciplinary committees from overturning automatic match suspensions at the World Cup. The motion is reported to be top of the agenda at the council's first meeting since the tournament. 1 Left · 1In the round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun was shown a red card for stepping on the right ankle of Bosnia's Tarik Muharemovic, which triggered an automatic one-game suspension. Al Jazeera reports the US won that match 2-0. 1

Mixed · 2President Donald Trump urged FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review the case, and the red card was overturned, so Balogun could play in the next game, against Belgium. Fox News says he was ruled eligible the day before that match, which the US lost 4-1. 1 2 Right · 1Trump has acknowledged calling Infantino. He says he only asked for a review because he did not think it was a foul, that he "didn't tell him what to do", and that he believes a committee made the decision. 2 Mixed · 2Al Jazeera says the reversal drew widespread criticism from football federations, former FIFA officials, experts and coaches. FIFA vice president Debbie Hewitt is among the leaders who have asked Infantino to release all documents related to the case. Fox News notes that critics see Infantino's relationship with Trump as a conflict of interest. 1 2

Mixed · 2The meeting also comes amid wider pressure on Infantino. He abandoned within days a plan, announced in July, to sell a 20 percent stake in the World Cup's commercial business to private investors through FIFA Forward Enterprise. Al Jazeera says a company launched by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was identified as the proposed lead investor. 1 2 Left · 1Al Jazeera reports that the leaders of UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF have called on Infantino to resign. Some powerful figures want to limit his powers if they cannot force him out. Infantino, 56, will stand for re-election in March 2027, and nominations close on 18 November. 1 Right · 1Fox News adds that Thursday's meeting will also review the FIFA Peace Prize, which Trump received at the Kennedy Center in Washington in December during the World Cup final draw. 2