The Belgian Football Federation has announced that it will not back the re-election campaign of FIFA President Gianni Infantino due transparency and governance problems within FIFA.
It also cited how Infantino dealt with the issue of clearing a U.S. forward, Folarin Balogun, for a one-game ban during the World Cup.
Infantino has received growing criticisms following the scandalous plan to sell shares of the World Cup, which caused an uproar from people.
However, FIFA announced on Sunday that Infantino will run in the upcoming election to become FIFA President until 2031.
In its statement released on Monday, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) explained that it will not back Infantino because of how FIFA has been “lacking transparency” in the process of dealing with the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and Balogun’s red card.
Through the FFE, FIFA tried to sell shares of the World Cup for private equity for $4.2 billion. FIFA had to withdraw the proposal on August 1 only a few days after announcing it.
“The RBFA notes that, in this matter, a number of important decisions and assessments have, to date, not been sufficiently substantiated by adequate justifications,” the Belgian federation said.
“This raises questions regarding the transparency and governance of this process. We remain in close contact with UEFA and, together, we are seeking clear answers regarding the decision-making process and the next steps.”
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The European football’s governing body, UEFA which initially threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions has lost confidence in the leadership of Infantino and 54-member association will not back his re-election bid.
Balogun’s Red Card Controversy
Balogun was sent off after stepping on defender Tarik Muharemović’s foot in the USA’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium.
The red card came with an automatic one-match suspension under FIFA’s disciplinary code with no route for appeal, meaning USA boss Mauricio Pochettino will be without his top scorer for the Belgium clash.
FIFA paused Balogun’s suspension for a one-year probationary period under Article 27 of its disciplinary code under which judicial bodies can suspend enforcement of a sanction.
Critics were quick to point out that Article 66.4 of that same code called for automatic suspensions for red cards and that no earlier dismissal at this World Cup had been treated the same way.
President Trump claimed he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to push for a review of the decision, multiple outlets reported.
White House officials including Andrew Giuliani and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were also said to be in contact with FIFA but the details of the calls were not confirmed by the White House.
Belgian FA Seeks Balogun ban answers
Despite Folarin Balogun’s leading the attack for the USMNT, Belgium defeated them 4-1 and ever since, Belgian F.A has been asking for answers from FIFA.
“Two months after the events, we note that our questions remain unanswered to date,” RBFA president Pascale Van Damme said.
“Given the importance of transparency and clarity for all parties involved, we request the necessary explanations and, at the same time, wish to explore where improvements to the current processes are possible, so that similar cases can be handled in a clear, consistent and efficient manner in the future.”
Balogun’s case has been put forward by the Belgian football confederation to be discussed at the upcoming FIFA council meeting scheduled to happen on Oct. 15.
