Report: FIFA official acted alone in clearing USMNT's Folarin Balogun to face Belgium

Jason Owens
Staff writer
Sun, Jul 12, 2026, 11:21 PM EDT

The controversial decision to waive U.S. striker Folarin Balogun's red-card suspension in the World Cup was made solely by FIFA disciplinary chair Mohammad al-Kamali and without input from any of the 17 other members of his committee, The Times of London reported Sunday.

Balogun, USA's leading scorer, was issued a red card for a foul in his team's Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Per FIFA rules, a red card comes with an automatic one-game suspension for the following game that Balogun was scheduled to serve during USA's Round of 16 game against Belgium.

Balogun was allowed to play despite decades of precedence dictating that FIFA would not overturn a red-card suspension during the World Cup. FIFA didn't rescind the ban, but suspended it "for a probationary period of one (1) year" and issued a fine to Balogun of $40,000.

It marked the second known instance of FIFA lifting a World Cup red-card suspension, and the first since Brazil's Garrincha was cleared to play in the 1962 final after being sent off in the semifinal. FIFA issued the ruling a day before the USA-Belgium game in a brief statement that cited Article 27 of its disciplinary code. It later issued a longer statement that defended the decision but offered no further details into the reasoning or process behind how it was reached.

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