Former DR Congo winger Yannick Bolasie has criticized FIFA’s consistency following the decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s red card ban for the USA vs. Belgium FIFA World Cup 2026 match.
Bolasie highlighted via his X handle that if a similar reversal occurred during the Africa Cup of Nations, the media and football governing bodies would face severe outrage.
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Recall that on Sunday, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee deferred the one-game suspension for Balogun on a one-year probationary period under article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
This decision allowed the United States striker to play in the Round of 16 match against Belgium.
Bolasie used this scenario to call out the double standards regarding administrative decisions in European/global tournaments versus African tournaments.
“All I’ll say is if this was AFCON and they let a man play after he got a red card, the nonsense being said would be crazy.”
The Royal Belgian Football Federation said it was astonished by FIFA’s decision to delay Balogun’s suspension.
In its own statement Sunday, Belgium pointed to other FIFA regulations about the “automatic” nature of the red card suspension and said it was “investigating all potential options” for recourse.
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The decision to delay a one-game red card suspension is highly unusual.
FIFA had already drawn scrutiny at this World Cup by allowing the participation of Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo, who had received a three-game suspension last November for elbowing an opponent in a World Cup qualifying match.
The suspension would have caused Ronaldo to miss Portugal’s first two games, but FIFA’s disciplinary committee had made a similar decision to put the suspension on hold.
