United States' Folarin Balogun (20) puts his foot down on Bosnia's Tarik Muharemovic (4) for which he received a red card during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
United States' Folarin Balogun (20) reacts to a red card during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino, right, awards President Donald Trump with the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
United States' Folarin Balogun (20) puts his foot down on Bosnia's Tarik Muharemovic (4) for which he received a red card during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — European soccer body UEFA criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” to let United States forward Folarin Balogun play at the World Cup against Belgium on Monday despite a red card in his previous game.
UEFA said in a statement FIFA “crossed a red line” with its decision not to enforce , after the world soccer body came under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
FIFA’s ruling Sunday — to defer Balogun's ban for one year of probation — shockingly deviated from soccer’s traditional rule of law and drew stinging criticism globally including from former World Cup stars and coaches at this tournament.
“It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup,” Norway coach Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said Sunday after his team beat Brazil to reach the quarterfinals.
UEFA, whose member federations include Belgium, insisted: “Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.”
“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” said the European soccer 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 its CEO-like general secretary from 2009 until being elected to lead FIFA in February 2016.
The Belgian soccer federation was preparing an appeal in Seattle in the early hours of Monday to challenge the Balogun ruling before a FIFA-appointed appeals judge. The round of 16 game against the U.S. is due to kick off at 5 p.m. local time.
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The Associated Press
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