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Inside the secret FIFA committee that overturned the US striker's red card

2026-07-10 18:06:07Sport SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Infantino and Trump

From the Financial Times / FIFA's 18-member Disciplinary Committee has a diverse composition, including a Tongan nobleman, a Togolese colonel and the head of a conglomerate that operates from food to lighting in Trinidad and Tobago.

However, the committee's last 110 published decisions were made by just one person. Its chairman, former Emirati MP Mohammad Al Kamali, has the right to make decisions alone or delegate this authority to another person. Not all of the committee's decisions are made public.

The non-transparent functioning of this institution has been put under international spotlight after the controversial decision to suspend a match of the punishment of the best US striker, Folarin Balogun, after the intervention of US President Donald Trump.

The decision allowed Balogun to play against Belgium in the knockout stage of the World Cup, despite receiving a red card in the previous match.

The decision sparked outrage in the football world and complaints from legal experts, who accused FIFA of misinterpreting its own rules. Critics say the organization's large number of committees and regulations only create an appearance of good governance without guaranteeing real transparency.

"FIFA hides behind the so-called independence of its disciplinary committee," said Miguel Maduro, former chairman of FIFA's Governance Committee, who was appointed in 2016 by FIFA president Gianni Infantino but left less than a year later.

A committee with figures from various fields

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee is composed of legal experts, active lawyers and officials from football federations.

It is headed by Al Kamali, who is a lawyer, while the vice-chairman is Jorge Palacio, a former Colombian judge.

Other members include Lord Ve'ehala, head of the Tonga Football Federation, as well as the president of the Togolese Football Federation, Kossi Guy Akpovy, a former colonel of the National Gendarmerie.

Candidates are proposed by regional football confederations and elected by the FIFA Congress, made up of 211 members.

The committee chairman is paid about $160,000 a year, while other members receive about $7,500 and cannot hold other positions within FIFA. The committee's total expenses last year, including per diems and travel, were just over $1.2 million.

Decisions are made by a small group

Although the committee has 18 members, a smaller group is responsible for making decisions during tournaments, according to people involved in disciplinary cases.

The committee does not usually hold public hearings on conflicts, but handles matters through submissions uploaded to FIFA's online legal portal.

Legal experts say the committee does not have the power to automatically overturn sentences, but only to decide whether a case requires further disciplinary measures.

The case of Cristiano Ronaldo

Late last year, the committee also intervened in the case of Cristiano Ronaldo, who received an automatic three-match suspension after being sent off in a World Cup qualifier.

The committee suspended the punishment after Ronaldo had missed only one match, allowing him to play in the World Cup.

This decision came a week after Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi championship, visited the White House in a delegation led by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Appeals are very rare.

Appeals against committee decisions are extremely rare.

Of the nearly 3,500 decisions made by the committee during the 2024-2025 season, fewer than 300 related to match-day issues. Only 31 of them were overturned.

Of these, 19 reached the FIFA Appeal Committee: 13 were rejected, 4 were declared inadmissible, one was partially accepted and one was fully accepted.

FIFA defends Balogun decision

In response to the criticism, the committee released a statement on behalf of its chairman, stating that Balogun had been found guilty of two offences: the red card and the celebration on the pitch after being sent off.

He was given a one-game suspension and a $40,000 fine, but the committee decided to suspend the punishment for one year.

No concrete reason was given for the suspension, other than the wording that the decision was made "taking into account all the specific circumstances of the incident and the available evidence."

The committee said it had not overturned the red card, but added that "reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new."

However, experts pointed out that such decisions in national leagues are usually made by panels of referees with special expertise, not by legal committees.

Paolo Lombardi, former head of FIFA's disciplinary department, said that if the organization wants to have the power to change automatic punishments, it must change its regulations.

"If that is not the case and this was a one-off, then there is a huge reputational problem that FIFA will have to deal with in the future," he said.

UEFA criticism and Trump's intervention

UEFA called the decision "incomprehensible and unjustifiable."

Although Belgium won the match 4-1, the Belgian football federation said it was seeking a review of FIFA's rules.

Trump confirmed that he had called Infantino and asked him to "reconsider" the decision.

Infantino then stated that FIFA's judicial bodies are "independent" and decide based on the regulations in force and concrete facts.

"Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football and must always be respected," he said.

FIFA has not released the full decision on Balogun and is not obligated to disclose it to anyone other than the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Following this decision, England and France have filed complaints about cards given to their players, but without success.


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