La Liga president Javier Tebas has hit out at FIFA for its handling of Folarin Balogun's red card during the Men's World Cup, calling the situation the "most serious incident in the history of football."
The American striker was shown a straight red card in a 2-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. As Balogun was preparing to serve an automatic one-game ban against Belgium in the round of 16, controversy erupted.
Balogun's suspension was reversed the day before the Belgium game, surprisingly giving the U.S. back one of its most crucial players.
Shortly after FIFA's decision was announced, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he pushed FIFA president Gianni Infantino to reverse the suspension.
Though Infantino insisted the decision
was not influenced by Trump, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee made an unusual decision to give Balogun a suspended sentence rather than the typical one-game ban.
Even with Balogun on the field, the U.S. ultimately fell 4-1 to Belgium in a hugely disappointing performance.
But the appearance of government intervention into on-field affairs sparked a huge wave of criticism of Infantino and FIFA. According to Tebas, it was an incident that has no parallel in the history of the sport.
“We have FIFA, which has overturned a red card because the president of a country called the FIFA president. This is the most serious incident in the history of football. I think that, for this to be resolved, the issue of governance has to be addressed clearly," Tebas said on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at an event in London for global players’ union FIFPro.
Tebas has been highly critical of Infantino in the past, particularly after the collapse of the FIFA chief's controversial plan to sell a portion of FIFA's operations to private investors.
Speaking to Le Monde last month, Tebas said: "For me, Gianni Infantino's time has long since passed.
"I'm not saying this because of recent events; I have noticed this style of management for a long time, though everyone else seems to be discovering it only now.
"Gianni Infantino is not someone who contributes to the growth of football. On the contrary, his projects are destroying the very essence of the sport: the national leagues.
"Football is not limited to the elite. For me, the Infantino era is over."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: La Liga president calls Balogun red card case 'most serious incident in football history'
