Konstantinos Konstantinidis – Amphiktyon
The report that FIFA reviewed and suspended the red-card sanction imposed on U.S. footballer Folarin Balogun, following political intervention by President Donald Trump, has sparked not only concerns about the independence of sports justice but also a deeper question: Who ultimately governs sport—the rules of the game, political power, or violent hooligans armed with Molotov cocktails?
When Emperor Theodosius I abolished the ancient Olympic Games, history remembered him as the ruler who brought an end to one of humanity’s oldest institutions. Today, there is no need to abolish sporting competitions, for they have become immensely profitable. It is enough to abolish the impartiality of their rules.
The moment political authority—or any powerful interest—is able to influence the outcome of a match or overturn a sporting sanction, fair play ceases to be a fundamental principle and becomes nothing more than an empty slogan.
For the ancient Greeks, the athlete stood alone before his opponent. No one could intervene on his behalf or influence the judges. Victory or defeat depended solely upon his own strength, discipline, and virtue. No political authority could overturn a referee’s decision, nor could anyone purchase more favorable rules. Equality before the law of the contest was the very soul of the Olympic ideal.
The judges of Olympia swore an oath before Zeus, protector of the Olympic sanctuary, that they would judge impartially and incorruptibly—and they honored that oath.
If, however, sporting authorities begin to yield to political influence or economic interests, then athletes will no longer rely solely on talent, training, discipline, and character. They will need powerful political patrons, financial influence, and business alliances. Victory will no longer be the reward of merit but the product of shameful bargaining.
Modern sport is already under assault from violence, fanaticism, hooliganism, and excessive commercialization. If public confidence in the equal application of the rules is also lost, then sporting competition will cease to be a genuine contest. It will become a spectacle in which the winner is not the best athlete, but the most powerful.
If such developments become acceptable, it is not merely a rule that is abolished. It is the very morality of sport that is destroyed. And when fair play dies, stadiums cease to be arenas of honorable competition and risk becoming, at least metaphorically, modern Roman arenas—or even jungles—where it is no longer virtue that triumphs, but the power of the strong.
7 July 2026
Amphiktyon
Major General (Ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis
Author – Member of the Society of Greek Writers
Amphiktyon Blog: http://www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com
Official Website: http://www.amphiktyon.org
