The straw that broke Gianni’s back

Gobsmacked.

There is no other way to adequately describe how I felt when FIFA announced it was ‘suspending’ Folarin Balogun’s World Cup suspension.

There are bad decisions in life. There are controversial ones. And then there are the sort of decisions that make you want to put your head through the nearest wall in sheer frustration because they are so fundamentally wrong.

Balogun had been sent off in the USA’s knockout match against Bosnia. It was a harsh decision, admittedly, that was only taken after VAR stuck its nose into proceedings.

But the rights or wrongs of the sending off don’t make a difference in the middle of a tournament – you get a red, you miss the next game. Simple. That’s how these things have always worked.

Yet, after Donald Trump publicly called on FIFA to review the suspension, FIFA did exactly that, ultimately deciding the American striker was free to face Belgium.

Nobody outside the disciplinary panel knows precisely how that conclusion was reached, but if you were trying to write the one storyline guaranteed to undermine confidence in a World Cup, you would struggle to improve on the sight of the president of the host country asking for a favour and FIFA appearing to grant it.

Belgium probably did FIFA the biggest favour imaginable by knocking the USA out in the subsequent game, because had the States reached the quarter-finals with Balogun back in the side, the whole tournament would have descended into chaos and revolution.

Instead, Belgium, fuelled by the injustice of the decision, made light work of Donald’s boys with a 4-1 win, and the tournament was able to limp on.

However, if Gianni Infantino believes Belgium’s victory somehow drew a line under this episode, he is badly mistaken.

The Balogun affair would have been unacceptable in any World Cup. The problem for Infantino is that it arrived towards the latter stages of a tournament that has steadily chipped away at his credibility.

Everything from ticket prices – which left fans wondering if they are watching a match or putting down a deposit to buy the stadium – to hydration breaks, which have conveniently split games into four TV-friendly quarters.

It’s been one thing after another, and Infantino has been there, right at the front, refusing to apologise for any of them. But the Balogun decision is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and means Infantino really needs to stand down.

Under Infantino, FIFA has become bigger, richer and louder, but football itself has too often felt like the supporting act.

That is why the Trump connection matters. Nobody is suggesting Infantino personally instructed the disciplinary panel to overturn Balogun’s suspension. There is no evidence of that.

But leadership is about more than the decisions you personally make. Infantino has spent years cultivating relationships with presidents, prime ministers and billionaires, while happily positioning himself as football’s global statesman.

When one of those political allies publicly calls for the suspension of the host nation’s star striker to be reviewed, and FIFA duly reviews it, people are inevitably going to ask whether politics and football have become altogether too comfortable in each other’s company.

Perhaps the panel reached exactly the right conclusion. If so, FIFA faces an even bigger problem, because millions of supporters immediately assumed the opposite. Institutions only lose the benefit of the doubt after years of slowly squandering it, and under Infantino, they have become professional squanderers.

He inherited an organisation whose reputation had been shattered by scandal and he promised transparency, accountability and a fresh start. Instead, football has been handed a presidency that appears more consumed by power, influence and commercial expansion than the one it replaced, only wrapped in slicker branding.

Bigger tournaments, an ever-expanding calendar, soaring ticket prices, endless political photo opportunities, and a president who has put the needs of fans so far down the list, I’m not sure they are even on it anymore.

For me, there is now only one conclusion: Infantino has become unfit to lead world football. The Balogun affair did not destroy confidence in FIFA or its president; it merely exposed how little confidence remained.

Now that those last bits of trust have departed, Infantino should follow them out of the door.

The beautiful game deserves a humble custodian prepared to protect its integrity, not a self-important empire-builder obsessed with money, power and pandering to his political pals.

It’s time to go, Gianni.

The beautiful game deserves a humble custodian prepared to protect its integrity, not a self-important empire-builder obsessed with money, power and pandering to his political pals

The ultimate legacy

Every player tries to leave their mark on a World Cup.

Some do it by scoring unforgettable goals, while others produce stunning saves or moments of sublime skill that will be replayed for decades.

Jordan Henderson chose a different route.

Having taken up an England squad place that should have gone to somebody else, he played just six minutes in the group stage before producing perhaps the most unique cameo of the tournament against Mexico.

In the high-pressured environment of the Azteca, Jordan earned himself a yellow card for dissent before eventually having to be carried out of the ground on a stretcher having badly broken his arm.

It could happen to any player, I hear you say. Well yes, but in Jordan’s case, he managed all that without actually playing a single minute of the game.

He got booked while warming up on the sidelines as a substitute and then injured himself jumping over the advertising hoardings celebrating England’s win.

It’s the stuff of legends and an achievement that will almost certainly never be matched.

Forest’s manager of the month

Final thought for the week, and it isn’t World Cup related.

Nottingham Forest have confirmed Oliver Glasner as their new manager, making him the club’s fifth permanent boss in the past year.

That’s just ridiculous.

How on earth a club can function with that level of turnover is beyond me. I understand that all players are capable of adapting to new methods, tactics and coaching. It’s part of the job.

But to be expected to do so once every few weeks is entirely unreasonable and it must be making them wonder if their careers might not be better served elsewhere.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis enjoys the limelight and ‘being the man’. How much of a man he will feel when the stars’ transfer requests start coming in remains to be seen.

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