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2026 FIFA World Cup
16JUL

72 MEPs target FIFA's Balogun reversal

2 min read
10:33UTC

72 members of the European Parliament wrote to all 27 European football associations demanding an investigation into FIFA's reversal of Folarin Balogun's ban.

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Key takeaway

72 MEPs asked Europe's football associations to investigate FIFA's reversal of Folarin Balogun's ban.

72 members of the European Parliament wrote to the heads of all 27 European football associations on Tuesday 14 July, calling for an investigation into the reversal by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) of Folarin Balogun's suspension. 1 The European Parliament is the directly elected legislature of the European Union, and its members hold no authority over football's governing body, so the letter is a political demand rather than a legal one.

Balogun is an England-eligible forward whose red-card ban FIFA lifted after a reported telephone call from President Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino . The reversal cleared him to play against Belgium and drew an immediate line of protest, with UEFA calling it "incomprehensible" and Belgium's own appeal ruled inadmissible. The MEPs are now widening that protest from football's internal channels into the political institutions of the bloc whose associations run most of the game's biggest leagues.

The letter runs alongside a second governance track. The campaign group FairSquare has pledged to refer Infantino to the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission , a body FIFA does not control. Neither route can overturn the Balogun decision, but together they keep a case FIFA has declined to explain in front of institutions it cannot appoint or instruct.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Seventy-two members of the European Parliament (MEPs, the elected representatives who sit in the EU's law-making body) wrote to the heads of every European football association, asking them to investigate why FIFA reversed a suspension for player Folarin Balogun after a phone call from Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. This is separate from an earlier complaint to the International Olympic Committee, which oversees Infantino personally because he is a member of that committee, meaning there are now two separate investigations into the same decision moving on different tracks. It is not yet clear whether either will lead to FIFA changing its ruling.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

FIFA's Congress operates on a one-country, one-vote basis across 211 member associations, meaning Europe's federations, even acting together, cannot outvote the rest of FIFA's membership on their own.

That voting structure is the reason MEPs are lobbying national federations to raise the issue collectively rather than pursuing a motion at FIFA's own Congress, where a European bloc alone could not guarantee the numbers to succeed.

Sources:PolitiFact
Mentions:European Parliament →Folarin Balogun →FIFA →Gianni Infantino →Donald Trump →International Olympic Committee →FairSquare →European Union →Belgium →UEFA →England →
First Reported In

Update #41 · Argentina reach final amid Falklands row

PolitiFact· 16 Jul 2026
Read original →
Causes and effects
Caused by
FIFA clears Balogun for Belgium tie
FIFA's reversal of Balogun's ban is the subject of the MEPs' letter to European football associations.
Occurred 6 Jul 2026
Read story →
FairSquare takes Infantino fight to IOC
FairSquare's pledge to refer Infantino to the IOC runs alongside the European Parliament's separate governance track.
Occurred 8 Jul 2026
Read story →
This Event
72 MEPs target FIFA's Balogun reversal
The Balogun reversal has moved from football's own bodies into European Parliament politics.
Different Perspectives
FIFA
FIFA
FIFA had not opened disciplinary proceedings over the Malvinas banner as of 16 July, continuing a pattern set by its fast reversal of Folarin Balogun's ban while South Africa's appeal over Themba Zwane's ban remained outstanding. The nearest tariff, a CHF 30,000 fine from 2014, remains only a precedent, not a decision.
France
France
France's tournament ended at the semi-final stage for the first time since 2010, beaten 2-0 by Spain in Arlington, and Kylian Mbappe's Golden Boot chances are reduced to Saturday's third-place game alone. The 2022 runners-up now play for bronze rather than a second straight final.
Spain
Spain
Spain reached their first World Cup final since winning the trophy in 2010, beating France 2-0 through goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro. Sixteen years after their only title, this squad returns to the same stage without the sovereignty politics attached to the other semi-final.
Downing Street (UK Government)
Downing Street (UK Government)
Downing Street said on the record that the Falkland Islanders 'are British with the right to determine their own future,' answering Argentina's vice-president and foreign minister. London rests its case on the islanders' 2013 referendum, not on the fixture, and lodged no formal protest despite the semi-final framing.
Argentina
Argentina
Vice-President Victoria Villarruel called England 'the usurping pirates' before kickoff; midfielder Leandro Paredes said after the 2-1 win that the Falklands 'will always be Argentine'. Argentina's 1994 constitution commits every office-holder to press the Malvinas claim, so a World Cup semi-final was never going to pass without it.
Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland reached their first World Cup quarter-final since 1954 and led Argentina before Breel Embolo's second yellow card left them a man down for the last half-hour. They expect the run to raise expectations for the next cycle rather than close a chapter.