FIFA gave USMNT striker Folarin Balogun, the team’s leading goal scorer at this World Cup, a rare reprieve for the controversial red card he received on July 1 in the team’s 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. By rule, Balogun was to sit out the next match, a Monday night showdown against Belgium in Seattle in the Round of 16.
But on Sunday, FIFA announced it has essentially suspended that suspension, invoking Article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says FIFA’s “judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”
“We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,” U.S. Soccer said in a statement. “Our full attention is on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans.”
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” U.S. President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post.
“HOME COOKING IS THE BEST,” Men In Blazers, the popular U.S. soccer podcasting network, wrote in a cheeky Instagram post.
The thing is, Belgium really shouldn’t have a beef here. What Balogun did on the field against Bosnia did not at all scream “eject this guy from this game and make him sit the next.” Red cards, as opposed to yellow cards, are given for the worst on-field behaviors, including spitting, biting, receiving a second yellow card in the same match (Balogun did not have a prior yellow against Bosnia), denying an opposing player an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by committing a handball offense, violent conduct, and what’s known in the laws of the game as “serious foul play,” which is defined as “a tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality” or lunging at an opponent “in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both
