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After announcing that USMNT striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game red card ban would be suspended on Sunday, FIFA announced on Monday that Belgium had been granted the right to appeal the decision. Already upset about the ruling in and of itself, Belgium is also evidently unhappy with the appeal process.
On Sunday, FIFA announced that — via the power granted to them in Article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code, which gives the organization the power to “suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction” — they were suspending the one-game ban that USMNT striker Folarin Balogun received as a result of the red card he was issued against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, July 1. Reports indicate that President Trump phoned FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to discuss the situation.
The announcement of FIFA’s decision was followed up by statements by both the Royal Belgian Football Association and UEFA (the governing body of European soccer) that lamented the ruling.
The Royal Belgian Football Association is unhappy with the manner in which FIFA is allowing them to appeal the Folarin Balogun decision
In an additional statement that was released on Monday, the Royal Belgian Football Association said they did not learn of the Folarin Balogun decision from FIFA directly but through the media, and lamented the manner in which the appeal process is being presented to them.
According to the Belgium football federation, they were given “only a few hours” to complete and submit their appeal.
FIFA is even rigging the appeals process that they came up with on the spot https://t.co/NAiOkpz9Om pic.twitter.com/IXgVL7ObgO
— Zito (@_Zeets) July 6, 2026
“Following its previous statement, the RBFA wishes to publicly explain the events of the past few hours. After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations,” the Royal Belgian Football Association said in a statement.
“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA,” the statement continued.
“For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.”
“All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests. Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response.”
Balogun — who will surely retain his place as the team’s starting striker after scoring 3 goals thus far in the World Cup — and the rest of the United States men’s national team will take on Belgium in the 2026 World Cup Round of 16 in Seattle on Monday, July 6 at 8 p.m. EST. The United States enter the matchup as slight favorites.