"More important always is consistency." Former FIFA referee Jonas Eriksson said it plainly, and it cuts right to the heart of the controversy that's swallowing this World Cup: Jarell Quansah is sitting out two matches while Folarin Balogun is still playing, despite both players being sent off for what officials themselves acknowledge were comparable challenges.
Quansah's sliding, studs-up foul in England's round-of-16 win over Mexico earned him a red card, a two-game suspension, and an FA appeal that went nowhere. Balogun's similar challenge during the USA's round-of-32 win over Bosnia also drew a red — but his one-match ban was then suspended on probation for a year under Article 27 of FIFA's disciplinary code. FIFA has offered no public explanation for why Article 27 applied to Balogun's case and not Quansah's.
The Trump factor that FIFA can't shake
The timing makes it worse. U.S. President Donald Trump personally lobbied FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review Balogun's case before the ban was lifted. FIFA insists that conversation had no bearing on the outcome. That may well be true. But when you suspend a red-card ban with zero public justification, right after the host nation's head of state calls in a favour, you don't get to be surprised when nobody believes you.
Keith Hackett, a former international referee, didn't mince it: "FIFA have failed in their duty towards the game after they delayed the ban for Balogun. They allowed outside interference by the president."
Belgium tried to challenge Balogun's eligibility before their round-of-16 loss to the USA and failed. They're now out of the tournament. Whether Balogun's presence changed that outcome is impossible to say — but FIFA's refusal to explain their reasoning means that question will follow this result permanently.
A mystery with no resolution
Eriksson, who spent 16 years as a FIFA referee and wrote a book on the governing body's internal dysfunction, put it as clearly as anyone can: "It's just for you and me and for everybody else to guess. But with that in mind, the red card for Quansah and the suspension is for me, just, it's a mystery."
That uncertainty bleeds into everything. England's defensive options and tournament odds have taken a real hit with Quansah unavailable for two games. The USA, meanwhile, move forward with their striker intact. Whether that's justice or something else entirely, FIFA has chosen not to say.
