Belgium granted right to appeal against FIFA's Folarin Balogun ban decision

[muriel_volestrangler]

Sources briefed on the matter, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have now told The Athletic the federation has now formally written to FIFA to appeal the matter, and the right to appeal has been granted. Both U.S. Soccer and the Belgian federation were asked to make submissions by 5am PST on Monday morning, which has exasperated the Belgians who have not received the decision by FIFA to review, as it is not made public.

A member of the FIFA appeals committee – who does not represent a federation in either UEFA or CONCACAF, so as to avoid any potential conflict of interest – has been selected to hear the case.

Submissions must now be made by Monday morning, with a ruling possible before the game, but Belgium have not been provided with any guarantees by FIFA that this will be the case. It would be extraordinary at this stage if FIFA were to change their position for a second time, with Balogun under a one game ban between Wednesday night until Sunday morning, until FIFA suddenly suspended the one match ban. It is unclear whether the appeal is merely procedural or if it has a genuine chance of moving the goalposts once more ahead of a huge knockout game at a World Cup.

The Athletic had already reported that Belgium has requested the full rationale behind the decision to lift Balogun’s suspension, as well as the report from FIFA’s refereeing body. FIFA’s disciplinary committee can decide against sharing its rationale

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7424790/2026/07/06/folarin-balogun-red-belgium-explanation/

Integrity of game at stake over Fifa Balogun decision - Uefa

Uefa has strongly criticised Fifa's shock decision not to uphold Folarin Balogun's automatic ban at this World Cup, calling it "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable".

United States striker Balogun, who was sent off against Bosnia-Herzegovina, should have served a suspension for the last-16 tie against Belgium (Tuesday 01:00 BST).

But Fifa opted not to enforce an immediate sanction on the 25-year-old, meaning the co-hosts' leading goalscorer will be available to play.

Uefa said that intervening to effectively cancel a suspension at a tournament "crossed a red line".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5yzzd73871o

(Uefa is the European body for football)

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. FIFA reject Belgium request; Balogun still clear to play vs. Belgium

FIFA has ruled a request from the Belgium football federation for an explanation of Folarin Balogun's suspended red card as "inadmissible," meaning it has no grounds to appeal the decision and the United States forward remains cleared to play against Belgium in Monday's World Cup round-of-16 match.
...
"The FIFA Appeal Committee has rendered a request submitted by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) as inadmissible in relation to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee's decision to suspend for one year the match suspension imposed on United States national team player Folarin Balogun following his dismissal for a direct red card during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ match between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina, played on 1 July 2026 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium," FIFA said in a statement on Monday.

"The chairperson of the FIFA Appeal Committee, Neil Eggleston (from the United States), was not involved in the decision. The request was rendered inadmissible on the grounds that the RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision."

FIFA's decision to suspend Balogun's one-match ban has been widely criticized and the governing body's rejection of Belgium's request for further information on the ruling has prompted the RBFA to say it will review its options, should Balogun be included on the USMNT's team sheet for Monday's game.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/49287344/fifa-reject-belgium-request-balogun-clear-play-belgium

So the US government was allowed to have lawyers prepare documents to argue the USMNT case, but no-one actually in football was allowed to put the opposing case.

On Wednesday evening, Andrew Giuliani — son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Trump's World Cup liaison — "alerted" the president to Balogun's red card, Politico reported; the same night, "Giuliani, [Commerce Secretary Howard] Lutnick and U.S. Soccer officials began activating on plans to challenge" the one-match suspension. This involved "submissions" to FIFA from U.S. Soccer lawyers arguing "that the VAR presentation to the on-field referee relied excessively on freeze-frames and slow-motion images" (according to the Athletic), as well as a "three-page document" prepared by White House lawyers suggesting that "FIFA's regulations on disciplinary action were sufficiently vague to create grounds for an appeal" (according to the New York Times).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/us-striker-folarin-balogun-was-supposed-to-be-sidelined-against-belgium--until-trump-intervened-your-complete-guide-to-the-world-cups-biggest-controversy-190651614.html