The World Cup Thread

pmc100 said:
I doubt many Americans understand the strength of feeling about this ban being overturned. People all over the world HATE it. And that's despite the fact that 99% agree is wasn't a red. But that's not the point. Once it's given its given, that's football. It's not just the blatant corruption (we expect that) but the lack of understanding of what football is. This is the world's game and American exceptionalism doesn't get to fuck with it. You simply don't change rulings you don't like. You get on with it.

Man up America :cop:
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As an American, I admit that I probably don't fully understand the level of hate the decision has created, but I can certainly sympathize with the outrage.

Infantino’s statement published on FIFA’s website says,

FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.​
​
Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues.​

During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.​

So, it sounds like Trump isn't the only head of state calling Infantino to complain. No doubt that the red card reversal is highly unusual and somewhat unprecedented. Is it really because the call came from Trump? Does he have leverage on Infantino, or did he bribe him? If so, did Infantino then strong-arm FIFA’s independent judicial bodies to make a decision to placate Trump? I dunno...maybe so. But if all of that happened, it seems like FIFA is as much to blame as Trump, if not more. I mean, they could have said no, the red card stays and Balogun sits out. Why didn't they do that?

Either the corruption is real and the anger is justified, or Infantino is telling the truth, and FIFA decided the red card was erroneous. It's a no-win situation for FIFA, but I hope it's the latter and FIFA aren't as corrupt as they're being portrayed. :shrug:

Maybe FIFA overturns England's red card too, just to spice things up a bit. :wink:
 
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Acadiafall said:
This red carded player being able to play is going to have far reaching effects I think. It just shows the disgusting corrupt depths of FIFA/Trump and Infantino. I really hope team USA do the right thing and bench him or they'll be tarred with the same brush.
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I've still seen very little of the tournament but this leaves a really bad taste in my mouth that they can, on a whim, undo one of the basic rules of the format with no transparency or explanation.

Just read there that UEFA have come out against FIFA. Hopefully other governing bodies do too.
Tig said:
The Mexican fans booing the playing of the English national anthem was pathetic.
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You should hear the Scotland fans during it. Laughable given how the fans and media like to portray the tartan army.
 
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shoeless said:
As an American, I admit that I probably don't fully understand the level of hate the decision has created, but I can certainly sympathize with the outrage.

Infantino’s statement published on FIFA’s website says,

FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.​
​
Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues.​

During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.​

So, it sounds like Trump isn't the only head of state calling Infantino to complain. No doubt that the red card reversal is highly unusual and somewhat unprecedented. Is it really because the call came from Trump? Does he have leverage on Infantino, or did he bribe him? If so, did Infantino then strong-arm FIFA’s independent judicial bodies to make a decision to placate Trump? I dunno...maybe so. But if all of that happened, it seems like FIFA is as much to blame as Trump, if not more. I mean, they could have said no, the red card stays and Balogun sits out. Why didn't they do that?

Either the corruption is real and the anger is justified, or Infantino is telling the truth, and FIFA decided the red card was erroneous. It's a no-win situation for FIFA, but I hope it's the latter and FIFA aren't as corrupt as they're being portrayed. :shrug:
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The corruption is very much real - which other heads of state or suit is calling him moaning about a red card given to a different nation?

According to the BBC this has only happened once before going back to the 70s or thereabouts, the reason being that it's a set in stone rule - you get a straight red, it's a ban - there's no discretion.

Shit like this is why so many people abandoned boxing. I'm a Rangers fan first , football fan second and barely watch any games outside that but you don't fuck about with the rules. I wouldn't expect trump to get the level of ill will this would create but Infantino definitely would have.
 
BTW just to add, had the red been overturned (which is allowed in most leagues but not the world cup) absolutely no-one outside of Belgium would have had a problem with that. But it wasn't, it was just decided that the Americans get to keep their star player.
jbj said:
The corruption is very much real - which other heads of state or suit is calling him moaning about a red card given to a different nation?

According to the BBC this has only happened once before going back to the 70s or thereabouts, the reason being that it's a set in stone rule - you get a straight red, it's a ban - there's no discretion.

Shit like this is why so many people abandoned boxing. I'm a Rangers fan first , football fan second and barely watch any games outside that but you don't fuck about with the rules. I wouldn't expect trump to get the level of ill will this would create but Infantino definitely would have.
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Whilst I disagree with @jbj on just about anything football related we agree here. The corruption is obvious. Infantino's statement is bullshit. Of course he leaned on them. Why else would a ban be overturned mid tournament? The first and only time it's ever happened before was in 1962 for Christ's sake! And even then everyone knew it was dodgy as fuck.

And again it's not just the obvious corruption. It's asking and expecting and accepting that it can be changed. That's just rude.
 
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jbj said:
The corruption is very much real - which other heads of state or suit is calling him moaning about a red card given to a different nation?

According to the BBC this has only happened once before going back to the 70s or thereabouts, the reason being that it's a set in stone rule - you get a straight red, it's a ban - there's no discretion.

Shit like this is why so many people abandoned boxing. I'm a Rangers fan first , football fan second and barely watch any games outside that but you don't fuck about with the rules. I wouldn't expect trump to get the level of ill will this would create but Infantino definitely would have.
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Exactly, Infantino should have known the implications. OTOH, if it really was an independent committee that made the decision, maybe he had nothing to do with it. :shrug:

In any case, it is not a good look for Trump, the USA, Infantino or FIFA. I suspect Belgium will use it as a motivator, and if they win, they can say they beat a full-strength USA team instead one that is a man down. Conversely, if the USA wins, the argument will remain that Balogun should not have been playing.
 
I'll still be watching the rest of the games but on my drive in to work today I heard Belgium beat the USA last night (it was on tv at 2am here in Germany) but they still played the red carded player. The scandal is kind of over now but this has left the competition (for me) with a sour taste.
Basically the USA/FIFA have ruined it. Im not having a go at the Americans in here, far from it, Im thankful there are a lot of you chaps in here and you're all good eggs but like I say, its just not the same now (personal view)
 
pmc100 said:
I doubt many Americans understand the strength of feeling about this ban being overturned. People all over the world HATE it. And that's despite the fact that 99% agree is wasn't a red. But that's not the point. Once it's given its given, that's football. It's not just the blatant corruption (we expect that) but the lack of understanding of what football is. This is the world's game and American exceptionalism doesn't get to fuck with it. You simply don't change rulings you don't like. You get on with it.

Man up America :cop:
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I'm not so sure why everybody is saying "99% agrees it wasn't a red". It was a damn brutal and very unnecessary foul. Red is on the harsh side, but definitely not unwarranted. In NL we would call this kind of foul a "dark yellow", where yellow is on the light side, but red is a bit much.

I mean, the rules for a red card: "commits serious foul play (a serious or dangerous foul)", for a yellow: "commits a reckless challenge or foul". I'd argue this falls a bit in between, but definitely could be argued to be a red :shrug:
 
The whole mess had me hoping for a USA loss, which is pretty messed up. We lost, yay. But as you guys are saying, the stain of this ugly episode won’t go away soon.

I am seeing calls for that Infanticide guy to be kicked out of the FIFA job, but they are probably wishful thinking. He seems to have some powerful friends.
 
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tiger roach said:
The whole mess had me hoping for a USA loss, which is pretty messed up. We lost, yay. But as you guys are saying, the stain of this ugly episode won’t go away soon.

I am seeing calls for that Infanticide guy to be kicked out of the FIFA job, but they are probably wishful thinking. He seems to have some powerful friends.
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The "clean" football associations can whine all they want, but one thing Infantino and Blatter understood very well is that there's plenty of votes to be gathered from smaller and poorer football nations that are tired of the overbearing and wealthy ones.

Stuff like increasing the number of world club participants is a masterstroke that gained a lot of votes from countries that would otherwise just play for scraps. Don't even need buy anyone to get all kinds of votes with stuff like that.
 
USA didn't show up last night and got their butts thoroughly kicked by Belgium. Congrats Belgium and good luck against Spain. They will be a tough team to beat.
 
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shoeless said:
USA didn't show up last night and got their butts thoroughly kicked by Belgium. Congrats Belgium and good luck against Spain. They will be a tough team to beat.
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I would not go as far as to root against my home team.... but when the Orange one got the red card from the previous match overturned.... and then the Belgium players doing his stupid jerkoff dance.... I smirked and said "Well played". :helper:
 
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Anybody else think that FIFA have their finger on the scale (vis-a-vis wanting ARG in the final)? I've been hearing grumblings about the prevalence of "VARgentina"...
 
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