🇧🇪 Astonished: Belgium rebels against FIFA over Balogun case
· Yahoo Sports
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has said it is "astonished" by FIFA’s decision to declare Folarin Balogun eligible for Monday, July 6’s United States-Belgium match.
The Belgian federation has already announced that it is "exploring all potential options" in response to FIFA’s decision.
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Why has Balogun’s suspension been lifted?
FIFA is basing its decision on Article 27 of the Disciplinary Code, which allows the Disciplinary Committee to suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed sanction. The RBFA argues in response that Article 66.4 of the same code states that a sending-off automatically results in a suspension for the next match, as has happened with all the other red cards in the tournament.
The Belgian position
The Belgian federation adds that the decision also contradicts Article 10.5 of the 2026 World Cup Competition Regulations, which sets out an automatic suspension following a straight red card or a second yellow. The same criterion, the RBFA notes, was reaffirmed in World Cup Circular No. 16, distributed to all federations on May 12, 2026.
The RBFA stresses that the rule on automatic suspensions is repeated at every pre-match coordination meeting and in tournament workshops. It therefore believes Balogun’s eligibility breaches a standard that was already known and applied consistently throughout the competition.
The Belgian federation insists that its aim is to safeguard the rights of all participating teams and protect fair play, both at this World Cup and in future editions. The dispute comes just one day before the clash between the United States and Belgium.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.