In Reply to: And there are asterisks on Portugals wins* posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on July 06, 2026 at 10:07:31
But now that you brought that up again, let me explain why I think this was worse than the Ronaldo decision, which to be perfectly clear about it, was a bad decision in the first place.
The decision to let Ronaldo play was made by FIFA alone based entirely on marketing concerns. They decided on their own, in alignment with their primary mission of maximizing the game's revenues, to let Ronaldo and two other players, neither of whom are big names (one is from Ecuador, and the other guy, I don't even remember which country) make an appearance in the games on day one. This decision was not forced by an outside political entity as far as I know. If it was, I will recalibrate my evaluation and it was made before the cup started, presumably as a way to set the table right to create a more attractive tournament (to re-re-emphasize, as misguided as that decision arguably was).
The Balogun decision was made in the midst of the tournament. A card was issued in the game. It was appealed, and the appeal was rejected. Up till now, we're still in the set of normal procedures. FIFA could have re-evaluated the card and taken action for the same exact FIFA internal rationale that said "we need Americans to really get into the game to increase our ad revenues, and for that to happen we will vote in favor of this appeal". They didn't.
And then the president of the USA stepped in. An outside entity that has no jurisdiction over the game. And despite the existing rules and longtime practice, the suspension was waived. It is that outside political influence that makes this a few times worse than what would have been the case FIFA changed their mind as a response to the appeal, for whatever reason.
I'll leave it at that. You're a fan and I respect that. I am writing this down just to explain my thinking on that. It is not intended to change your mind at all.