FIFA has swiftly rejected an appeal from Belgium’s soccer federation over Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension, saying that the federation was ‘not a party to the proceedings.’ The controversy has ratcheted up after the revelation that U.S. President Donald Trump contacted FIFA president Gianni Infantino directly in an effort to overturn the decision.

Background

There has been a growing firestorm over FIFA’s last-minute decision to allow U.S. forward Balogun to play in Monday’s World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium, following his red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The RFBA said on Sunday it was ‘astonished’ by FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s ban, rather that enforcing its usual punishment of an automatic one-game suspension.

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.

Original reporting: Las Cruces Sun News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.