The Folarin Balogun chaos continues.
Less then 12 hours from the start of the USA-Belgium match in the World Cup Round of 16, Belgium has appealed FIFA’s decision to allow the USMNT striker to play.
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it had “no alternative but to challenge (Balogun’s) eligibility for the upcoming match.”
It also claimed FIFA “deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its (pre-match) presentation,” though it had “been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches.”
The RBFA said it questoined FIFA on the change both orally and in writing, but did not receive a response.
Belgium was granted the right to appeal the ruling on Monday, with both sides of the situation ordered to make submissions by 8 a.m. ET Monday ahead of a member of the FIFA appeals committee hearing Belgium’s case.
The RBFA said prior to sending the appeal it had requested a full explanation from FIFA of “the process” and “applicable regulations,” and once again didn’t receive anything.
“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal,” the RBFA said. “No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.
“For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant.
“While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.”
The RBFA has been “investigating all potential options” to change FIFA’s ruling since the reversal was announced, saying in doing so they were safeguarding “the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament.”
Belgium’s coach Rudi Garcia made his stance against Balogun playing public, saying that he “didn’t know that July 5 was equal to April 1 at FIFA.”
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, also commented on the matter, saying FIFA allowing the USMNT striker to play “crossed a red line” and is “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”
