Folarin Balogun put his foot awkwardly on Tarik Muharemović’s ankle during the US’s 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 last Wednesday. No one in Levi’s Stadium could have imagined that it would become the biggest controversy of the 2026 World Cup. Raphael Claus, a referee from Brazil, didn’t even show a card at first. After that, the VAR review came. Then the red card. Things really went crazy after that.
By Sunday, FIFA had lifted Balogun’s automatic one-match ban, letting the 25-year-old striker play against Belgium in Seattle on Monday in the round of 16. Article 27 of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code was used as a mechanism. This section lets FIFA’s judicial body delay the implementation of a sanction and instead put the player on probation. For Balogun, that probation lasts for one year. If he does something similar during that time, the original suspension will start over. On paper, it sounds like a process. In real life, it has caused a firestorm.
The decision itself isn’t what makes this situation so strange; it’s the phone call that came before it. It is said that after the game, President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to look over the sending-off. There is a lot of evidence that they are dating. In December, Trump was given FIFA’s first Peace Prize, which caused a lot of controversy at the time and seems even more strange now. Multiple requests for comment from FIFA about the call or the decision-making process went unanswered, which adds to the suspicion that something fishy took place behind closed doors.
The word “lawsuit” was used right away in the commentary, and it’s important to know why it didn’t happen. In order to play in FIFA, both teams and players must agree to follow its rules. There was no way for Balogun or U.S. Soccer to appeal because FIFA’s rules don’t allow for appeals for automatic red card suspensions. But there was no need to sue FIFA. Its own rules gave it the freedom to make its own decisions. There are a lot of options for how Article 27 can be used to delay a suspension, which gives FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee a lot of freedom.
Belgium’s response was quick and angry. The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “amazed” and pointed out what it sees as a clear violation of FIFA’s own rules. According to Article 66.4 of the Disciplinary Code, getting a red card means you will be suspended for the next game. The rules for the tournament use the same language. Rudi Garcia, the coach of Belgium, didn’t hold back when he said that the announcement on July 5 was like an April Fools’ joke and that his country was protecting “football in general” and its honor. It’s still not clear if Belgium will use the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the anger is real.
It’s been done before, but not very often. After getting a red card against Ireland in qualifying last November, Cristiano Ronaldo had two of his three-game ban put off. This meant that he could play at the start of this World Cup. In April, Nicolás Otamendi from Argentina and Moisés Caicedo from Ecuador both got the same treatment. But none of those cases involved a match that was going on during the World Cup, and none of them involved a head of state calling FIFA’s president. It looks like the last time a red card during the World Cup didn’t lead to a suspension was in 1962, when Brazil’s Garrincha was sent off in the semifinal against Chile but still got to play in the final.
For Balogun, the timing is almost like a movie scene. He was born in Brooklyn to Nigerian parents who lived in London. In 2023, he chose to play for the US instead of England. He has scored three goals in this tournament, the same number as Landon Donovan scored in 2010, and one less than Bert Patenaude scored in the first World Cup in 1930. His teammates found out he was cleared while they were on the team bus going to practice on Sunday. The way Christian Pulisic reacted perfectly showed how people felt: first they were shocked, then they were relieved.
It’s not really about Balogun anymore; the bigger question is. It’s about what this episode shows about how FIFA is run. A clause that doesn’t spell out the conditions that make it apply. A call from a president who is already in office that FIFA won’t talk about. A competing team was left with not many options. No matter if this mess ends up in a formal lawsuit or not, FIFA may already have lost the trust of other federations. The game on Monday in Seattle will happen, and Balogun will probably start. The debate over where football rules end and political influence begin will last for a long time after the game is over.
