UEFA also outraged by FIFA's decision

UEFA has issued a statement regarding the overturned suspension of US striker Folarin Balogun. European football's governing body supports the sentiment that the majority of the football world has deemed "scandalous."

"Yesterday's decision to replace an automatic one-match ban for a red card with a conditional sanction, subject to a one-year probationary period, has crossed a red line," the central body's statement reads.

"Football, like any other sport, is built on rules that form the foundation of fair and transparent competition. Sometimes rules can be interpreted. But not in this case. The minimum automatic one-match ban following a red card is not an optional choice, nor does it require a decision from a competent authority to impose it. This is a principle embedded in the regulations, one that allows for no exceptions, especially not in the middle of a tournament where other players have faced the same situation and served their suspensions.

When the certainty of the rules is no longer guaranteed by its custodians, the integrity of the game is called into question, and the authority of the tournament is undermined. Such a decision sets a precedent in an ongoing tournament, where similar situations now demand equal treatment to avoid harming the competition.

Football is the world's most beloved sport because it is a beautiful game and because it is played everywhere under the same rules. A tournament is never an isolated entity. If the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to bring positive or negative consequences for the game as a whole. We express our bewilderment at this unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustified decision," UEFA's statement concludes.