Former Scotland international Craig Burley has launched a fierce attack on FIFA following the controversial decision to overturn a red card given to USA forward Folarin Balogun.
Balogun had scored his third goal of the tournament before being dismissed in the second half of the USA’s last 32 clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
VAR had initially ruled that Balogun’s tackle on Tarik Muharemovic warranted a red card, ending his tournament prematurely before the decision was dramatically reversed.
US president Donald Trump is alleged to have called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino three times to personally lobby for the decision to be overturned in Balogun’s favour.
Trump has since doubled down on his stance, insisting the tackle did not merit a sending off, despite reportedly being unaware of what a red card was before the incident.
Balogun, who plays his club football for Monaco, is now free to feature when co-hosts USA face Belgium in the last eight, with the match taking place in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Both UEFA and the Belgian FA have issued damning statements condemning FIFA, with Belgium vowing to pursue all legal options “in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole.”
Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund icon Jurgen Klopp has also publicly attacked Trump and Infantino, telling the pair they know nothing about football and should stay out of it.
Burley, who earned 46 caps for Scotland and appeared at the 1998 World Cup in France, has worked as a football pundit in the United States since 2013, giving him a unique perspective on the controversy.
The 54-year-old spoke out during ESPN’s coverage of England’s 3-2 last 16 victory over Mexico, pulling no punches in his assessment of FIFA’s conduct.
Speaking on ESPN, Burley said: “We all know why this has been overturned and where the pressure has came from. However, FIFA and Gianni Infantino as an organisation, have a duty to rebuke any advances to influence a sporting decision, and they have not.”
He continued: “They have left themselves with a shell of any decency here. They have left themselves absolutely open to everyone that says this organisation and I’m not going to say corrupt but borderline does what they want.”
Burley pointed to a pattern of behaviour, adding: “The Club World Cup was proof, Ronaldo’s suspended sentence was proof, the Messi (incident against Algeria) where he didn’t get a yellow card and VAR didn’t check for a red card, is proof.”
He went on to say: “The fact that this player (Balogun) plays for a host nation and everybody is talking about it, is proof that decisions are influenced by the popularity of individuals and countries and beyond that.”
Burley also suggested England may seek clarification over the straight red card shown to defender Jarell Quansah during their victory over Mexico in the same evening.
He stated: “England are going to be well within their rights to ask what the decision is going to be on the right back (Quansah) who was sent off this evening.”
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