FIFA’s 18‑member disciplinary committee, chaired by Mohammad Al Kamali, includes a Tongan nobleman, a Togolese colonel and a Trinidadian conglomerate chief. Yet the last 110 published decisions were issued by a single person, and the body’s $1.2 million annual cost is funded by a chair salary of $160,000 and $7,500 per member.

The committee’s opacity exploded into view when it suspended a one‑match ban for US striker Folarin Balogun after Donald Trump phoned Gianni Infantino to “review” the red card. The ruling let Balogun face Belgium in the World Cup knockouts, but FIFA never published the decision and offered only a vague “specific circumstances” justification.

A similar intervention cleared Cristiano Ronaldo after a White House visit, and the committee handled 3,500 rulings in 2024/25 with only 31 appeals — 19 reaching the appeals panel, 13 rejected. FIFA’s rulebook permits overturning a red card only for mistaken identity, a gap highlighted by UEFA, which called the Balogun move “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

The episode exposes a governance vacuum: a tiny, unelected panel can rewrite automatic sanctions under political pressure, eroding credibility with federations, sponsors and broadcasters. Without rule changes or transparent processes, FIFA risks regulatory scrutiny and commercial fallout from partners demanding predictable, fair discipline.