SEATTLE — Belgium have been granted the right to appeal FIFA’s decision to suspend the one-game ban to United States national team striker Folarin Balogun, according to a report by The Athletic.
Balogun had been slated to miss Monday’s round of 16 match after being issued a direct red card, which carried an automatic one-match suspension. However, FIFA announced on Sunday that the one-game ban had been suspended.
The ruling triggered widespread debate as well as a statement from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) that said it was exploring “all potential options.”
According to The Athletic, the RBFA formally wrote to FIFA to appeal the matter, which was granted. The RBFA and U.S. Soccer were reportedly asked to make submissions by 5 a.m. PT — exactly 12 hours before the scheduled start of the match at Seattle Stadium.
A member of the FIFA appeals committee has been selected to hear the case, according to the report. The member is not associated with a federation in either UEFA or CONCAFAF.
Belgium have not been guaranteed that a ruling will be made before Monday’s match.
Balogun is currently eligible to play and is expected to start. The 25-year-old has a team-best three goals during this World Cup, including what turned out to be the game-winning goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina last Wednesday.
However, Balogun was later issued a red card following a VAR review. He was slated to have to sit out against Belgium until Sunday’s surprising ruling by FIFA.
President Donald Trump reportedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask him to review the matter, while secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick and other White House officials were also involved. Trump praised the decision in a Truth Social post, writing, “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
A red card or suspension officially cannot be appealed. FIFA, however, posted this message to its website Sunday about its use of the rule book in the case: “By operation of Article 27 FDC, the implementation of the automatic match suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one (1) year.”
U.S. Soccer issued its own statement in response to the action: “We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to complete tomorrow.
“Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans.”
The RBFA countered with a lengthy statement from its football federation decrying FIFA’s decision and citing other pieces of the disciplinary code and competition regulations that made red-card decisions sound final.
“In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament,” the statement concluded, “the RBFA is investigating all potential options.”
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia began his pre-match press conference Sunday afternoon by declaring he didn’t know the fifth of July had turned into April Fool’s Day.
“A lot of our thoughts and opinions are in the release,” Garcia said. “We’re not defending the national team or the federation, we are defending football.”
Before the start of the World Cup last month, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo faced a three-match suspension, with the final two potentially keeping him out of group-stage matches. Instead, he sat one match, with the other two suspended and converted to a one-year probation period.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino defended FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s ban.
“For me, there isn’t much debate here, though I do understand Belgium’s perspective and Rudi’s point of view,” Pochettino told reporters Sunday. “I understand why people conflate issues — people always do, because there’s often an agenda to mix things up — but in this case, I don’t think it’s right.
“If anyone was harmed in this whole situation, it was the United States. Can anyone justify the idea that we weren’t punished? I mean, playing 30 or 35 minutes a man down in a World Cup knockout match? It’s not as if we’re benefiting. No, no. There’s no extraordinary gain we’re getting out of all this. I mean, ultimately, we aren’t victims, but we aren’t the villains of this story either.”
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
