Fifa's Balogun decision could lead to football 'cesspit' - McAllister

Uefa vice-president Laura McAllister has warned that Fifa's decision to suspend Folarin Balogun's red card ban at the World Cup, following an intervention by US President Donald Trump, could lead to "an absolute cesspit" of political interference in football. Balogun played in the USA's last-16 loss to Belgium after his one-game ban was suspended, despite being sent off against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Trump said he personally asked for a review because he "didn't think it was a foul." McAllister said the decision creates a dangerous precedent where any political leader could appeal punishments. Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter wrote that "football must never become a playground for political power." McAllister added that Fifa president Gianni Infantino was in a difficult position, having needed Trump's support for the World Cup, but was "trapped into this vortex of a relationship with Trump" that made the intervention "almost bound to happen."