The United States of America camp couldn’t be happier to see FIFA clearing striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban, enabling him to participate in the national team’s Round of 16 fixture against Belgium in the World Cup. Balogun, who received a red card in the Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was supposed to miss the Belgium clash, but FIFA suspended his ban for a year by invoking Article 27. All of this reportedly happened after a call from US President Donald Trump. Though there remains a debate over whether the decision on the field was the right one, the fact that FIFA intervened to clear the United States striker has left many infuriated, including England manager Thomas Tuchel.
Speaking at a press conference after England’s 3-2 win over co-hosts Mexico, Tuchel admitted that it was outrageous to see FIFA taking such a step after a call from Trump. Though Tuchel felt that Balogun’s red card was harsh, he said there needs to be consistency for every player.
Since Balogun’s red card has now been suspended, the German questioned whether FIFA would do the same for other players like Michael Olise and Harry Kane, who were arguably wrongly booked too.
“To be clear, it was not a red card. VAR got involved. The decision is made. Who overturns this decision, and when, and on what grounds? It’s strange for me. We want consistency. I think it is not a yellow card, Declan Rice. Does France get the yellow card back for (Michael) Olise, which was not a yellow card? Where does this start and where does this end? Do we appeal (Jarell Quansah’s red)?” Should Harry Kane ask President Trump? “Maybe!”
The consequence of this decision immediately falls on the heads of the Belgium team, who are set to take on the US next. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said in a statement that it was “astonished” by the decision. The RBFA added that it was “investigating all potential options” to challenge FIFA’s decision.
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Belgium manager Rudi Garcia ridiculed FIFA’s decision, asking if it was an April Fools’ Day joke.
“I didn’t know that 5 July was equal to 1 April [April Fools’ Day] at FIFA,” Garcia said in his native French at a news conference on Sunday. “I think we should refer to the [statement] of my federation, the Belgian federation. I think a lot of things are in it. The federation does not defend itself, it does not defend the national team – it defends football in general. It defends its integrity. It defends its ethics.”
The USA and Belgium teams are scheduled to square off on Monday night in Seattle.
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