Seeing Red: Belgium Granted Appeal After Europe Cries Over American Suspension Reversal

The Belgian national team on Monday morning was granted the right to appeal FIFA’s last-minute decision to reverse a one-game suspension that had been imposed on U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun after he received a phantom red card in America’s round of 32 victory.

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FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension on Sunday, which came after a phone call between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, outraged the soccer elites of Belgium and other European nations. Belgium’s soccer officials said they were “astonished.” Belgium soccer coach Rudi Garcia also took a shot at FIFA after the reversal.

“I didn’t know that in the FIFA offices the 5th of July corresponded to the 1st of April … it was a discovery for me,” Garcia said.

Belgium also reportedly “lawyered up” to fight FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension. After the outrage, Belgium was granted an appeal, which will ultimately leave it up to one member of the FIFA appeals committee to decide whether Balogun’s suspension should be upheld. A decision on Belgium’s appeal could be handed down before the game between the United States and Belgium starts at 7:00 p.m. ET, but Belgium was not guaranteed that a ruling would come from FIFA before the game, The Athletic reported.

The appeals committee member selected to hear the appeal is not a member of the European soccer association, UEFA, or of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football to ensure the appeals process is unbiased. The UEFA released a statement Monday morning, siding with Belgium, and blasting FIFA’s decision to allow Balogun to play Monday night.

“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” UEFA wrote in a statement, adding, “When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.”

Read more Seeing Red: Belgium Granted Appeal After Europe Cries Over American Suspension Reversal

Norway’s coach Ståle Solbakken, whose team advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday, also ripped FIFA over the decision.

“I think it is not a great conclusion. [Balogun] got a red card and the VAR concluded that it was a red card. He was sent off. That means you are suspended for one game,” Solbakken said. “I think what is really bad about that situation is it will be [hanging] over the United States now. Because if they beat Belgium, it will always have that extra thing about it. Maybe he scores a goal, maybe he plays a good game, and the Belgians will be furious.”

FIFA reversed Balogun’s suspension after the White House put together a team of elite lawyers to challenge soccer officials’ use of replay review in determining Balogun’s red card last week, Outkick founder Clay Travis reported. Balogun’s was given a red card for his contact with a defender for Bosnia and Herzegovina after the referee used video replay to determine that the U.S. star’s cleat scraped the back of the defender’s ankle.

Trump also called FIFA’s president to better understand why a red card had been issued, but Trump did not push FIFA to overturn the suspension, according to Axios. During that phone call, Infantino informed Trump that a review of the red card had already begun.

America’s star player, who leads the team with three goals so far in the tournament, is preparing to play Monday night as the United States looks to advance to its second-ever quarterfinals. Team USA was ecstatic on Sunday after hearing the news that Balogun could play.

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