Hey guys
My province, Ontario, is currently on fire. The wildfires are mostly around the Northwestern areas, where many indigenous communities, such as the Namaygoosisagagun First Nations, having their homes burnt to a crisp. The entire province is covered in smoke -
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: The Belgian federation has released a new statement:
"After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations."
"As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA."
"All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests."
"Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response."
"To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player's eligibility for the upcoming match."
"Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply saddened by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole."
🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Statement from UEFA on FIFA overturning Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension:
"Yesterday's decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the
implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line."
"Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not."
"A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension."
"When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition."
"Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole."
"We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision."
Dear Lucas Herrington,
if you ever read this: The 31 y/o CL winner Leon Goretzka, player of 6 times CL winners Bayern & 4 times World Cup winners Germany didn‘t dare taking a penalty for his nation when they needed him. You did it at 18. You are so brave & a hero in our eyes ❤️
if you were entertained by #Congo in the #WorldCup, please consider contributing to these Congolese appeals. they need our support in and outside of being entertainment on a national stage. these are people representing a real movement.
support Congo!!! ⬇️⬇️🇨🇩