Refs’ boss Howard Webb has piled into FIFA over the World Cup scandal of Folarin Balogun’s suspended red-card ban.England’s head of officiating said he was ‘really troubled’ by the saga, which marred the summer’s showpiece.US striker Balogun was shown a red card in the co-host’s round of 32 victory over Bosnia, which triggered an automatic one-match ban.However, after the extraordinary and unprecedented intervention of US president Donald Trump, FIFA decided to suspend the ban for 12 months, meaning he was free to play in the last-16 fixture with Belgium.The saga prompted claims of corruption, with the integrity of the global competition significantly undermined.‘I was really troubled by it,’ Webb said. ‘We know that there was pressure placed by a politician onto FIFA because that was admitted, and we know that the suspension was taken away for that particular tournament and suspended through a process which seemingly didn’t exist before the season the tournament started.’ Donald Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to ask him to review Folarin Balogun’s sending off at the World Cup The striker was sent off for this challenge during their 2-0 win over Bosnia but his suspension was overturned Speaking ahead of the new season, Webb added that the move could now spark unfair conspiracy theories across the game.‘Where I was troubled by it was that we live in a world now which is different to the one that I occupied as a ref, in that decisions that are taken previously were viewed as correct or incorrect,’ he explained. ‘Far too often now, decisions are viewed as correct or corrupt by people who want to type all over social media. They try to draw inferences around decisions around decisions, but they don’t agree with them. What’s the motivation behind that decision?‘When you get that type of situation, it opens up space for people to think, “Ha ha! You see, this sort of thing’s happening all the time behind the scenes”, and it’s really not, in my experience.’Webb’s comments were echoed by Premier League boss Richard Masters. ‘We should be looking back on the World Cup and the football that was played, and Spain being obviously the best team, and England’s agonising semi-final defeat,’ he said. ‘But we’re not, we are talking about other issues, and I think that’s a huge shame. The Balogun issue stands alone in that isolated incident which is very difficult to comprehend when you look at it. I think it is, again, a self-inflicted moment.’Meanwhile, Webb said that Pro Ref had increased support to referees following the situation with disgraced former official David Coote, who was given a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to making an indecent image of a child.They have brought in a head of performance psychology, along with a robust reporting process in which any concerns can be raised.