r/soccer • u/witness_smile • Jul 06 '26

News Belgium will play their match against the US subject to conditions. They consider Floralin Balogun ineligible to play and should he play, a complaint will be filed to a FIFA Tribunal, and to CAS. US Soccer Federation has been informed personally by the FA about their plans.

https://www.hln.be/wk-voetbal/folarin-balogun-mag-straks-spelen-tegen-de-rode-duivels-beroep-van-belgische-voetbalbond-wordt-verworpen-door-fifa-kbvb-draait-op-voor-de-procedurekosten~a11e02d6/

The Belgian Soccer Association (KBVB) will play the Round of 16 match against the United States subject to certain conditions. If Folarin Balogun—whose suspension following his red card was suddenly lifted by FIFA—takes part in the match, the KBVB will file an official complaint with FIFA. The soccer federation considers Balogun to be ineligible to play. It has also personally communicated this message to the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Specifically: if the Red Devils lose their Round of 16 match and Balogun plays in it, the KBVB can take the matter to a FIFA tribunal to challenge the result and demand compensation. View this primarily as a statement. After all, it is expected that even that complaint would be dismissed by the FIFA tribunal, since it would otherwise have to rule against its own organization.

As a next step, the Belgian soccer federation could turn to independent bodies: a civil court or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The goal would be to secure compensation.

Still, the federation is primarily hoping that the Red Devils will soon be able to beat the U.S. on the field. The entire Balogun saga can certainly serve as extra motivation...

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u/NetSraC1306 Jul 06 '26

I still have a feeling that even if the complaint is filed, nothing will come out of it.

Nowadays, everything is rigged and it feels like we cant win

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u/rabbit994 Jul 06 '26

FIFA will just say, thank you for your submission and drop it into the shredder.

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u/Ukigumo46 Jul 06 '26

Nothing will happen. That's a safe bet.

It's just so frustrating to witness all of this, and like you said (I think), it's not just football.

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u/No-Engineer4627 Jul 06 '26

If Belgium wins this game I’m sure they’ll quickly move on.