Belgium is appealing against the cancellation of the disqualification of the American player Balogun

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) intends to officially challenge FIFA's decision to lift the automatic disqualification of U.S. national team forward Folarin Balogun. This was reported on the association's website on July 6.

The RBFA expressed surprise that the player was allowed to participate in the match between the national teams of the USA and Belgium, which is scheduled to take place on Monday, June 1, in Seattle. According to the organization, FIFA has not provided a reasoned decision to lift the suspension of the football player.

"Having learned from the media about FIFA's decision to cancel the automatic disqualification of player Folarin Balogun, the association sent a letter to FIFA asking for a copy of this decision, an explanation of the procedure followed and an explanation of the position regarding the applicable rules," the Belgian side said in a statement.

The RBFA stressed that they received a letter in response, in which their request was regarded as an appeal. At the same time, the association was given only a few hours to complete the appeal procedure, without providing meaningful information on the case.

According to Belgian officials, this contradicts the FIFA regulations themselves, according to which an appeal can be accepted only after the applicant is informed of a reasoned decision. In addition, the Belgian side accused the international federation of deliberately concealing information.

"FIFA intentionally removed the automatic disqualification clause from its presentation during the match coordination meeting. At the same time, this topic was part of the meetings before each of the four previous games," the RBFA said.

The association added that, despite the lack of responses from FIFA, they are forced to formally challenge Balogun's right to participate in the upcoming meeting. The organization stressed that they will continue to defend the principles of ethics and fair competition, regardless of the sporting outcome of the match.

Trump has lifted the suspension of an American football player at the World Cup. What the media is writing

Trump's call to Infantino became known on July 6. A day earlier, FIFA had changed its mind about imposing an automatic one-match suspension against Balogun, limiting itself to a probation period of one year. It was noted that the American leader had warned the president of the federation that the White House was even ready to involve lawyers in this case.

Balogun received a red card on July 2 in the 64th minute of the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ended in a 2-0 victory for the Americans. Former FIFA President Joseph Blatter condemned the cancellation of this decision on July 6. He said that football should not become a platform for political power. But the European Commission, on the contrary, refused the same reaction. Its representative Eva Hrtsinova stated that this body respects the alleged independence of sports and the right of sports organizations to determine the criteria for participation in sports competitions.

Later, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he had indeed called FIFA President Gianni Infantino with a request to reconsider the decision to disqualify national team striker Folarin Balogun. He stressed that he made this conclusion because he is an athlete himself and a person who is very well versed in this field.