FIFA has granted Belgium the right to appeal the decision to allow Folarin Balogun, US striker, to play in the upcoming World Cup round of 16 against Belgium (on Monday, Tuesday 2:00 AM CEST, 1:00 AM BST in European time); however, a ruling is unlikely to be made before kick off, so the decision to clear Balogun will not be overturned, which will end up harming Belgium. Such appeal will need to be made before 5 AM PT (14:00 CEST, 13:00 BST), exactly 12 hours before the match begins in Seattle.
The Athletic confirmed that the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) formally wrote to FIFA to appeal the matter, which was granted, with the Belgians saying they are exploring all potential options.
It has been reported that FIFA took the decision to allow Balogun to play after receiving pressure from the White House, even from Donald Trump himself.
UEFA sent a statement just now, saying the decision had crossed a red line, because what the US player received was an automatic one match suspension for receiving a red card, a common sanction that is not open to interpretation. In their own statement, the RBFA said that FIFA was violating their own articles that clearly stated that red-card decisions are final and the suspensions are not subject to appeal or interpretation.
