What rule lets Fifa suspend disciplinary measures despite automatic red bans?

Question

Accepted Answer

The FIFA statutes rule that allows disciplinary suspensions to be overridden is the one permitting the governing body to suspend a disciplinary measure’s implementation.

FIFA regulations provide that a straight red card automatically triggers a one-match ban and that such bans cannot be appealed. However, FIFA’s statutes also include a rule allowing the governing body to “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure,” which can effectively override the automatic red-card outcome in practice.
The automatic red-card ban is set out in FIFA regulations
A red card after a match triggers an automatic one-match ban under FIFA regulations, and that ban is described as not appealable. In the Balogun case, FIFA suspended the ban for a year, which made him eligible to play in the knockout stage.
The statutes create a separate override mechanism
The key difference is that FIFA statutes contain a provision letting FIFA fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. This creates an authority that can be used to change how a disciplinary sanction operates, even when the underlying red-card ban is automatic.
The rule has been used before in a similar way
The same statutes provision was previously used to overturn a three-game suspension imposed on Cristiano Ronaldo. That change made the player eligible to feature in Portugal’s first two games ahead of the tournament.
The dispute centres on whether such use amounts to a veto
Because the statutes provision can suspend disciplinary measures tied to match officials’ decisions, it has been described as amounting to a veto over refereeing decisions. In the current controversy, Jurgen Klopp criticised the overturning of Balogun’s suspension as being tied to external influence surrounding FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump.

Reading history

Hide →

This history is cleared when the page is closed.

What rule lets Fifa suspend disciplinary measures despite automatic red bans?

Loading

Was this article helpful?

Helpful

Not helpful

Report an issue

2

0

0

Share with friends