USA striker Folarin Balogun will play in his team’s last-16 game against Belgium on Monday after Fifa announced it has suspended the red card and accompanying one-game ban he received against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The decision gives the US a huge boost as they attempt to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2002. Balogun has been a constant threat for the US so far this tournament, and has scored three goals in three starts. Without him, US coach Mauricio Pochettino was scrambling to come up with other options in attack.
Fifa’s disciplinary committee said it made the decision in line with Article 27 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code, which allows it to suspend red cards so long as the discipline is not realted to match-fixing. Balogun will be on a probationary period of one year, meaning the red card technically still remains on his record. If, during that year, Balogun commits what the code refers to as “another infringement of a similar nature and gravity,” the striker will serve his one-game ban.
Fifa previously used Article 27 to clear Cristiano Ronaldo to start the opening games of Portugal’s World Cup after his red card against the Republic of Ireland. A US Soccer spokesperson said on Sunday that the federation was engaged in the process that ended up clearing Balogun for the last-16 game.
President Donald Trump thanked football’s world governing body for suspending the red card.
“Thank you to Fifa for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“We accept the decision of the disciplinary committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,” US Soccer said in a statement. “Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans.”
The Royal Belgian Football Association was preparing a statement of its own when contacted by the Guardian.
Balogun was sent off for a seemingly innocuous collision with a Bosnia and Herzegovina defender in a last-32 game earlier this week. No foul was initially called, but the video assistant referee (VAR) recommended a review after seeing that Balogun had stepped on the defender’s ankle. Upon reviewing the incident, the referee issued Balogun a straight red for violent conduct.
The decision shocked commentators and the US players and coaching staff, all of whom said the move was unintentional.
“For me? Never a red card,” Pochettino said after the game. “Never an intention to step on the player. It was a normal action in football that happened by accident.”
Fifa and US Soccer officials said at the time that the one-game suspension which accompanies a red card could not be appealed.
On Friday, Balogun said that the experience had been “surreal”. He had been praised for his reaction to a red card most perceived as harsh.
“I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion,” Balogun said. “There’s still lots of people we’re inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it’s unjust.”
