{"id":1014,"date":"2026-07-06T20:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2026-07-06T20:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:20:07","slug":"uefa-says-fifa-crossed-a-line-on-balogun-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1014","title":{"rendered":"UEFA says FIFA crossed a line on Balogun decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/uK0EBiCZAurGinsoPHX5g9ANDEo=\/0x137:4467x2649\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/06\/1783345211109.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Union of European Football Associations said FIFA &#8220;crossed a red line&#8221; by lifting U.S. striker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/02\/us-bosnia-herzegovina-world-cup-balogun\" target=\"_blank\">Folarin Balogun&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/05\/folarin-balogun-cleared-usmnt-belgium-fifa-red-card\" target=\"_blank\">one-match suspension<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> UEFA, which represents most of Europe&#8217;s soccer federations, came out swinging after FIFA reversed course \u2014 a move that followed President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Trump&#8217;s<\/a> call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/05\/folarin-balogun-cleared-usmnt-belgium-fifa-red-card\" target=\"_blank\">demanding answers<\/a> about why the U.S. star had been sidelined.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying: &#8220;<\/strong>Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not,&#8221; UEFA said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uefa.com\/news-media\/news\/02a7-2109c8e9ef81-de5a993db109-1000--uefa-statement-on-the-balogun-case\/\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> posted to its website.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>A one-match ban after a red card isn&#8217;t a &#8220;discretionary option,&#8221; UEFA said, and that rule can&#8217;t be lifted mid-tournament while other players serve their suspensions.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. \u2026 We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>U.S. Soccer <\/strong>did not respond to Axios&#8217; request for comment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Catch up quick:<\/strong> Balogun was shown a red card against Bosnia on Wednesday after his cleat caught a defender&#8217;s leg and slid down toward the ankle as he chased a loose ball.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He was only given the red card after a video review. <\/li>\n<li>Balogun has either scored or assisted in every game he&#8217;s played, so losing him would have left the U.S. without its most dangerous attacker against Belgium.<\/li>\n<li>Trump called Infantino, and FIFA lifted the ban for a one-year probationary period, causing some fans to decry political meddling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What we&#8217;re watching:<\/strong> Balogun is expected to suit up Monday night against Belgium at 8pm ET in Seattle.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Winning would send the U.S. to its first quarterfinal since 2002.<\/li>\n<li>The winner&#8217;s next-round matchup will be against one of two heavyweights: Spain or Portugal.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/denver\/2026\/06\/08\/how-to-watch-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\">Here&#8217;s how to watch<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Go deeper:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/05\/trump-official-balogun-red-card-fifa-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\">Trump called FIFA&#8217;s Infantino over Balogun suspension<\/a><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union of European Football Associations said FIFA &#8220;crossed a red line&#8221; by lifting U.S. striker Folarin Balogun&#8217;s one-match suspension. Why it matters: UEFA, which represents most of Europe&#8217;s soccer federations, came out swinging after FIFA reversed course \u2014 a move that followed President Trump&#8217;s call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino demanding answers about why&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/uK0EBiCZAurGinsoPHX5g9ANDEo=\/0x137:4467x2649\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/06\/1783345211109.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}