{"id":800,"date":"2026-07-06T18:13:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=800"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:13:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:13:35","slug":"balogun-red-card-controversy-fifa-rejects-belgiums-appeal-ahead-of-us-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=800","title":{"rendered":"Balogun red card controversy: FIFA rejects Belgium\u2019s appeal ahead of US match"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Falorin Balogun will play in the World Cup match between Belgium and the United States on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Read more The golden ambition of \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d can\u2019t be tarnished<\/a><\/p>\n

The star striker for the US Men\u2019s National Team was expected to serve a one-game suspension after receiving a red card following in a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. The U.S. successfully appealed that decision and FIFA placed Balogun under a one-year probation rather than requiring him to sit out the next match.<\/p>\n

The reversal marked the first time that FIFA had changed course on a red card issued during the tournament in over 50 years. As the nearly unprecedented move favored the current World Cup co-host, claims of favoritism and corruption were loud and immediate. The governing body of Belgian football appealed the decision to allow Balogun to play. FIFA rejected that appeal on Monday, saying in essence that Balogun\u2019s punishment was none of Belgium\u2019s business.<\/p>\n

FIFA called the Royal Belgian Football Association\u2019s appeal \u201cinadmissible\u201d because they were not \u201cnot a party to the proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[The RBFA] \u00a0has no standing to appeal the decision,\u201d the World Cup governing body shared in a statement.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s weekend war approach to Iran might never end<\/a><\/p>\n

Sensing an easy win, Donald Trump waded into the controversy after the fact. The president and recipient of FIFA\u2019s inaugural Peace Prize said he\u2019d asked FIFA leadership to reconsider the red card. In his noncommittal, weaving way, Trump gave himself credit for the decision even as he avoided insinuations that he\u2019d pressured FIFA into tossing out the suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to penalize somebody for the game. But how do you penalize him for a game that hasn\u2019t been played yet? You can\u2019t do that,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. \u201cSo yes, I asked for a review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump called the referee\u2019s ruling \u201cunfair,\u201d but insisted that he didn\u2019t put his thumb on the scale for the USMNT.<\/p>\n

Read more The subjective originalism of SCOTUS\u2019s conservative majority<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAll I did was ask for a review,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t say you have to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIFA overturned a one-game suspension on USMNT striker after Donald Trump made some phone calls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1125,5,1126,407,1127,413],"class_list":["post-800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-belgium","tag-donald-trump","tag-falorin-balogun","tag-fifa","tag-usmnt","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nBalogun red card controversy: FIFA rejects Belgium\u2019s appeal ahead of US match - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=800\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Balogun red card controversy: FIFA rejects Belgium\u2019s appeal ahead of US match - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FIFA overturned a one-game suspension on USMNT striker after Donald Trump made some phone calls.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=800\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T18:13:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"Balogun red card controversy: FIFA rejects Belgium\u2019s appeal ahead of US match\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:13:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/03002d3240f6e92cd1c8854193545739.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Belgium\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Falorin Balogun\",\"FIFA\",\"USMNT\",\"World Cup\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800\",\"name\":\"Balogun red card controversy: FIFA rejects Belgium\u2019s appeal ahead of US match - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/03002d3240f6e92cd1c8854193545739.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:13:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=800#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/03002d3240f6e92cd1c8854193545739.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/03002d3240f6e92cd1c8854193545739.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1054,\"caption\":\"SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JULY 01: Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between USA and Bosnia and Herzegovina at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on July 01, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. 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