Folarin Balogun on his controversial red card against Bosnia, questioning the referee and VAR:
🗣️ “I cannot accept that decision. I've watched the replay over and over, and I know in my heart there was never any intention to hurt anyone. It was a football action, nothing more. To send me off for that is one of the harshest decisions I've experienced in my career.”
“What's frustrating isn't just the red card it's the inconsistency. Week after week, challenge after challenge, we've all seen similar incidents judged differently. Sometimes VAR says it's football, sometimes it becomes a straight red. How are players supposed to understand the rules when the standard changes every game?”
“The referee had one look. VAR had every angle, slow motion, every replay imaginable, and they still chose the harshest possible outcome. That's the part I cannot understand. Technology was introduced to remove obvious mistakes, not to create even bigger controversies.”
“This decision didn't just punish me. It punished my teammates, my coaches, every supporter wearing a USA shirt and everyone who travelled to support us. One whistle changed an entire World Cup night, and that's something impossible to forget.”
“If football wants players and fans to respect VAR, then VAR has to start respecting football. Consistency isn't optional it's the foundation of fairness. Right now, too many careers, tournaments and dreams are being decided by officials instead of the football itself.”
“I'll accept responsibility when I'm wrong. But I will never stay silent when I believe the game has been let down. Players deserve clarity, supporters deserve honesty, and this tournament deserves officiating that applies the same standard to everyone not different standards depending on the badge you wear.”
“He didn’t even have 20% of the talent that Wade had—or that Wade and LeBron had together—and he still made it to the Finals twice. If we’re talking about the guy who cooked the best meal with the least amount of ingredients, it’s Jimmy Butler, hands down. That team he took to the Finals? That was an AAU team, a YMCA team.”
- Gilbert Arenas on Jimmy Butler
(Via The Right Time with Bomani Jones)
#Cowboys owner Jerry Jones just released a statement on keeping HC Mike McCarthy
"Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our post season goals."
Full statement below: