FIFA on Monday rejected an appeal by the Royal Belgian Football Association challenging the eligibility of U.S.A. player Folarin Balogun for their round-of-16 World Cup clash, billed for Seattle on Tuesday.
Balogun was issued a red card by Brazilian referee Rafael Claus in the 64th minute of the U.S. 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina last Thursday after an intervention by the video assistant referee and was ruled out of their next knockout match.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee thereafter suspended the red card after President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the one-match ban, prompting an appeal by the Belgian football authorities, which FIFA has now described as “inadmissible”.
“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,” FIFA said in a statement.
It added, “The chairperson of the FIFA Appeal Committee, Neil Eggleston (from the United States), was not involved in the decision.”
In response to the rejection of their appeal, the RBFA accused FIFA of breaching its own rules and vowed to consider other necessary options if Balogun is listed for their round-of-16 knockout tie.
“The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has received the decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee, signed by its member Mr Salman Al-Ansari, which declares the RBFA’s case inadmissible and confirms the earlier decision allowing United States player Folarin Balogun to play.
“To date, the RBFA has still not received any grounds for this decision, nor has it received the information it has been requesting since the start of this procedure id est a copy of the decision and the motivation declaring the player eligible, as well as the referee’s report, which is a breach of FIFA regulations.
“The RBFA has informed the United States Soccer Federation that it contests the eligibility of the player, should the player be listed on the referee’s team sheet. This leaves all further actions open,” the Belgian association said in a statement.
