Surprisingly, the team that had the most to gain from American star forward Folarin Balogun not being able to play is angry that he can suddenly play.
Balogun, who scored the winning goal in the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina earlier this week, received a red card later in the match after a highly controversial VAR review, which, as it turned out, was conducted illegally.
More on that in a moment.
The red card kept Balogun out of the final 26 minutes of the B&H game and the entirety of the United States’ upcoming men’s round of 16 match against the Belgians in Seattle on Monday.
That was until Sunday afternoon, when FIFA announced it would suspend disqualification from Balogun’s game and instead give him a one-year trial and allow him to play against Belgium.
The sudden change prompted a harsh rebuke from the Royal Belgian Football Federation, which accused FIFA of pulling an “April Fool’s Day” prank.
“The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is surprised by FIFA’s decision to declare suspended American player Folarin Balogun eligible to play in the match between the United States and Belgium on Monday, July 6 at 5:00 pm (Seattle time).
“FIFA bases its decision on article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This provision establishes that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may decide to suspend the execution of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction.
“However, article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly states that a red card (expulsion) automatically carries a suspension for the team’s next match, as has been the case with all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup.
“Furthermore, and regardless of the above, the decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Competition Regulations, as set out in Article 10.5:
“‘If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second warning), he will be automatically suspended from his team’s next match. In addition, further sanctions may be imposed.’
“The automatic nature of such suspension was also explicitly reaffirmed in FIFA World Cup 2026 Circular No. 16, which was distributed to all participating member associations on May 12, 2026.
“The same rule is reiterated in every 2026 FIFA World Cup match coordination meeting before each match and is included in all 2026 FIFA World Cup workshop presentations.
“To safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both in this FIFA World Cup and in future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options.”
While the RBFA investigates its options, there are some holes in its case.
It is true that the rules regarding red cards should be simple, but in reality that is not what is at stake. The question is how Brazilian referee Rafael Claus came to the decision to give Balogun the red card.
While the use of VAR is allowed to determine the “intensity of an infraction”. The rules dictate that the video review must play at normal speed. The video Claus reviewed was in slow motion. After seeing Balogun’s foul on Muharemović in slow motion, Claus showed the forward the red card, without having shown him any card during the play.
This is not how VAR is supposed to be used to determine the severity of a penalty.
A healthy argument can, and perhaps should, be made about whether Balogun should have received a red card. However, it was the process by which Claus determined the severity of the penalty that overturned the red card.
