The Belgian football federation has vowed “to challenge” FIFA’s controversial reversal of a red card game suspension against Folarin Balogun, which allows the star USA player to take the field in the round of 16 World Cup match against Belgium.The statement on Monday from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) came hours before the match was set to begin, and as US President Donald Trump defended directly reaching out to FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino ahead of the controversial decision.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe federation charged that FIFA did not follow the proper protocol in allowing an appeal of its lifting of Balogun’s game suspension, the result of a red card shown during the round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.The RBFA said, given FIFA’s conduct, the federation “has no alternative but to challenge [Balogun’s] eligibility for the upcoming match”.“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,” the federation said.Shortly after, the federation said its appeal had been deemed “inadmissable” by the FIFA Appeal Committee. It further accused FIFA of a “breach” of regulations for not providing its justifications.It added it had informed the US Soccer Federation that it contests Balogun’s eligibility f …
