FIFA faces backlash after lifting US player’s World Cup ban
Shafaq News- Seattle
FIFA’s decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s automatic one-match ban has triggered a World Cup disciplinary row, with UEFA and Belgium criticizing the ruling before the United States’ last-16 match against Belgium.
Balogun was sent off in the United States’ 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina after a VAR review showed his foot landing on defender Tarik Muharemovic’s ankle. A red card normally brings an automatic suspension from the next match, which would have ruled the US striker out of the Belgium game.
FIFA, however, did not cancel the red card. Instead, it suspended the implementation of the ban under Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and placed Balogun under a one-year probationary period. The sanction can still be enforced if he commits another similar offence during that period.
The decision cleared Balogun to play against Belgium, giving Mauricio Pochettino’s side back one of its main attacking players. Balogun has scored three goals at the tournament, making his availability a major team-news development before the knockout tie.
US Soccer expressed that it is “pleased” Balogun was eligible to compete. Christian Pulisic also defended his teammate, as the incident had “zero intent,” while Pochettino welcomed the decision after the US had initially prepared for the match without him.
The case also gained a political dimension after US President Donald Trump reportedly contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for the red card to be reviewed. Trump later thanked FIFA publicly, saying it had corrected a “great injustice.”
Meanwhile, the Royal Belgian Football Association declared that it was “astonished” by FIFA’s decision and stated that it was reviewing “all potential options” to protect the rights of participating teams and the principles of fair play. Belgium coach Rudi Garcia also criticized the ruling, joking through a translator that he had not known July 5 was “the first of April in Europe.” Belgium was defending football’s integrity, he added.
“Where does this end? Where does it stop?”
UEFA then escalated the dispute, calling FIFA’s decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable.” The European body stated that FIFA had “crossed a red line” and warned that uncertainty over disciplinary rules could damage the credibility of the competition.
UEFA statement on the Balogun case: ⬇️https://t.co/9LQDx8waKe
— UEFA (@UEFA) July 6, 2026
While FIFA’s legal basis rests on Article 27, which allows its judicial bodies to fully or partially suspend implementation of a disciplinary measure, Article 66.4 states that a sending-off automatically incurs suspension from the following match. The two provisions sit at the center of the dispute between FIFA’s authority to defer a sanction and the expectation of automatic enforcement.
Similar cases exist, though most were resolved before the World Cup began: Cristiano Ronaldo had two matches of a three-game ban suspended under probation after serving one match for a red card in qualifying, while Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi and Ecuador’s Moises Caicedo also reportedly had one-game bans deferred before the tournament. But Balogun’s case is more sensitive because the red card came during the World Cup itself and the suspension would have applied immediately to a knockout match against a direct opponent.
No confirmed formal requests from other national teams to lift suspensions from their players have been reported yet, but the ruling is expected to remain a reference point for any similar disciplinary appeals during the tournament.
