FIFA are set to be hit by a fresh complaint in the wake of the scandal involving United States striker Folarin Balogun at this summer's World Cup.
There was no shortage of controversy during the tournament, with the final between Spain and Argentina ending in disgraceful scenes of violence after the South American side had also sparked outrage following their semi-final win over England. But before that, football's governing body came under intense scrutiny after the decision was made to allow Balogun to play despite being sent off in the previous match.
The former Arsenal striker - who was the United States' top goalscorer at the tournament - was shown a red card against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32, meaning he was set to miss out on representing the co-hosts in their last-16 clash with Belgium.
Unprecedented decision
However, a stunning turn of events saw FIFA announce that the red card had been suspended for a year, allowing him to face the Belgians after all. The move was highly unprecedented, with Balogun's only the second red card out of 189 in the history of the World Cup to not lead to a suspension.
In a shocking development, it was later revealed that President Donald Trump had called FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, to discuss Balogun's ban before it was suspended, while he later took to social media to thank the governing body for reversing "a great injustice".
It then emerged that the decision to waive the ban was taken solely by the chairman of FIFA’s disciplinary committee, Mohammad Al-Kamali, without him asking any of the 17 other members of the committee.
Norway to lodge complaint
While the United States were ultimately thumped 4-1 by Belgium in the last-16, the incident brought the sport into disrepute and another World Cup nation is now preparing to launch a complaint to FIFA.
The controversy had no direct impact on Norway's tournament run, but the president of their football federation has confirmed that they will lodge a complaint with the governing body, as she called on Infantino to admit that an error was made.
“When you bend a rule like this, you’re on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk, Norwegian Football Federation boss Lise Klaveness told The Times. "It is a worry for the game when you compromise fundamental rules of the game.
"First of all, it should not have happened. It is very important now to have honest communication around it.
"We all know that this verdict was influenced from external forces and did not have the proper process. We need our leader in Fifa to say that this was an error.
"If you start to adapt in such a way towards state leaders and state politics, you will move your behaviour and the organisation’s behaviour, and also the red line of what states’ leaders should interfere with. And that happened."
Klaveness added that the incident could not be "swept under the carpet", as she continued: “When you make controversial decisions, and when there has been an external, very powerful voice in your ear, it’s very important that you have more voices. And if you don’t, it’s a mistake.
"This case was so serious and so worrying that I hope that it might contribute to bring people out a little bit and don’t fear to bring up cases. I will bring it to a board meeting and discuss with my board, and then we do it.
"To me, it should be in the same sphere of ethical complaint. To try to sweep this under the carpet now will not fly. Too many felt this… coaches, players, fans… that this was too close to the game."
