European football’s governing body UEFA criticized FIFA for an «incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision» to allow American forward Folarin Balogun to play in Monday’s World Cup last-16 match against Belgium, despite having received a red card in his previous match.
UEFA said in a statement that FIFA «crossed a red line» with its decision not to enforce Balogun’s mandatory one-match ban after world football’s governing body came under pressure from US President Donald Trump.
FIFA’s ruling on Sunday, which stayed Balogun’s suspension and placed him on one-year probation, marked a dramatic departure from the traditional disciplinary process in world football and drew sharp criticism worldwide, including from former World Cup stars and coaches at the tournament.
«It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup,» Norwegian coach Ståle Solbakken said on Sunday after his team defeated Brazil to reach the quarter-finals.
UEFA, of which Belgium is also a member, stressed: «Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. Not in this case.»
“When the certainty of the rules is no longer guaranteed by their guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” said European football’s governing body, which has often clashed with FIFA president Gianni Infantino during his decade in power.
“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” said UEFA, where Infantino was general secretary from 2009 until he was elected FIFA president in February 2016.
The Belgian Football Federation was preparing an appeal challenging the Balogun ruling in the early hours of Seattle on Monday before a FIFA-appointed appeal judge. The round of 16 against the US starts at 5:00 PM local time.
Published on July 6, 2026
