US Footballer Folarin Balogun’s Red Card Ban Has Been Revoked After President Trump’s Initiative.

Washington DC: July 2026: A red-card ‘One Match Suspension’ for US Football Player Folarin Balogun during the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina was overturned today (Monday – 06th July 2026) after US President Donald Trump has called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss the matter.

FIFA has announced today (06th July) that Balogun’s one-game suspension for the American squad’s matchup against Belgium in the Round of 16 would be lifted. The game is set for 20:00 hours EDT today at Lumen Field in Seattle. Balogun was reprimanded for fouling Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic during Team USA’s 2-0 win on Wednesday (01st July 2026).

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice”, Trump, who received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize last year (2025), wrote in a post on Truth Social, lauding the red-card suspension.

FIFA said in a statement early today (IST) that its Disciplinary Committee had decided Balogun’s “automatic match suspension” would be “suspended for a probationary period of one year.”

The Belgian football association said it was “astonished” by the reversal in a statement Sunday. “FIFA bases its decision on Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This provision states that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may decide to suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction. However, Article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly provides that a red card (sending-off) automatically results in a suspension for the team’s next match, as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup”. The association said it would be “investigating all potential options”.

Belgian head coach Rudi Garcia, in a press conference today (06th July) has blasted the move. He said during a press conference that, he thought it was a joke when he first heard news that suspended United States striker Folarin Balogun was cleared to play in its round-of-16 match today (Monday – 06th July 2026). “I didn’t know that at the World Cup, the 5th of July is actually the first of April — it’s April Fool’s Day”.

He added that the federation’s lengthy statement, which highlighted the unprecedented nature of FIFA’s decision as well as how it runs counter to the guidelines FIFA had put out before the tournament regarding automatic suspensions for any player receiving a red card, was not only about protecting the Belgian team. “We’re not defending the national team or federation. We are defending football”, Garcia said.

Criticism of FIFA’s decision also came from Norway coach Ståle Solbakken after his team’s win over Brazil in the round of 16 today (Monday – 06th July 2026). “I think that’s a big mistake by FIFA; it’s not a great conclusion”, Solbakken said. “He has got a red card, VAR concluded it was a red card, and he was sent off, so that means he is suspended for one game. The Belgians will be furious, and what happens if he scores a goal that wins the game? What happens with the next red card? Will there be a committee somewhere to take the red card away? It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad decision for the World Cup, and I feel sorry for the US because if they win, the result will always be looked at in that way”.

Team USA could not appeal the red card, but FIFA’s disciplinary committee is entitled to change its decision after review. There is precedent for such a reversal. In November 2025, FIFA had deferred the final two games of a three-match suspension for Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo incurred for a red card he received during a World Cup qualifier.

That decision allowed Ronaldo to play in this year’s World Cup without interruption. Soccer’s governing body also deferred one-game suspensions for Nicolás Otamendi and Ecuadoran midfielder Moisés Caicedo, allowing the two to compete in the event.

In December 2025, Infantino, who had spent months ingratiating himself with Trump, bestowed upon the president the first FIFA Peace Prize, an award created by the global soccer governing body ahead of the 2026 World Cup. “You definitely deserve the first FIFA Peace Prize for your action, for what you have obtained in your way, but you obtained it in an incredible way”, Infantino had said during the award ceremony. “And you can always count, Mr. President, on my support, on the support of the entire soccer community to help you make peace and make the world prosper”, he had then added.

Team Maverick.