Javier Tebas has used the Folarin Balogun case to launch a pointed attack on Fifa, calling out what he described as the “complicit silence” around a disciplinary decision that has drawn serious criticism. The La Liga president believes the episode is not just about one red card or one suspended ban, but part of a wider pattern that is damaging trust in football’s governing structures.
At the 2026 World Cup, Fifa’s disciplinary committee opted to suspend Balogun’s one-game ban for 12 months after Raphael Claus had shown the United States forward a red card against Bosnia-Herzegovia following a video assistant referee review. Balogun then played in the United States’ 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the last 16, and the decision has now become a governance story as much as a disciplinary one. If this is the sort of standards debate Jürgen Klopp would recognise from elite-level football politics, it is because the argument has quickly moved beyond the match itself.
Why Tebas has made this such a public issue
Tebas, who became president of La Liga in 2013, made clear on X that he sees the Balogun case as “the tip of the iceberg”. His view is that the issue reflects “eroding the credibility of Fifa and football in general for many years”, with the latest ruling simply reinforcing a broader concern about how decisions are made at the top of the game.
He also argued that silence from football officials outside Europe has made the problem worse. “Because staying quiet is more comfortable than defending independence, transparency, and good governance,” Tebas said, before adding that “World football deserves institutions that are accountable, respect the rules, and govern with transparency - not through unilateral, discretionary, arbitrary decisions that erode the trust of fans, clubs, leagues, and players.”
The wider reaction has not gone unnoticed
The strongest formal response before Tebas came from Uefa, which on Monday criticised Fifa’s decision as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”. That language underlines how unusual the ruling is being viewed by senior figures in the European game.
There has been little noise about the decision from football officials outside Europe, and that is part of what Tebas has targeted in his criticism. He sees the lack of public pushback as a symptom of the wider problem, rather than a side issue.
Donald Trump also described the matter as “a bit suspect”, adding another layer to the debate around a decision that has already become one of the tournament’s most scrutinised disciplinary calls.
For Fifa, the immediate sporting issue is over. But the reputational issue is not. The Balogun ruling has become another example used by critics who believe the governing body is drifting away from the standards it asks of everyone else.
