Just when you thought the U.S. men's national soccer team was down a star striker for their make-or-break World Cup match against Belgium, FIFA pulled a fast one. Folarin Balogun, the guy who makes goals happen, has had his red card suspension… well, suspended. Because apparently, that's where we are now.
FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced Sunday that Balogun's one-game ban is on probation for a year. Which means he's free to play in any remaining World Cup games, provided he doesn't commit another "similar serious offense." They didn't exactly explain why they decided to hit pause on the suspension, but hey, the U.S. isn't complaining.
The Accidental Ankle Tap That Almost Cost Everything
Balogun picked up the infamous red card last Wednesday during the U.S. team's 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments: he stepped on Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemović's ankle while both were going for the ball. The main referee initially waved it off, but then the video referee got involved, slow-motion replay, and poof – red card.
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Start Your News DetoxU.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino called it "extremely harsh," a "normal action in football that happened by accident." Even Christian Pulisic, the team's winger, echoed the sentiment. While U.S. Soccer didn't officially appeal, they were "engaged" with FIFA. And then, because this is 2024, President Trump weighed in on Truth Social, thanking FIFA "for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!" Because of course he did.
Now, delaying a red card suspension is about as common as a quiet Tuesday in a bakery that just got mentioned by Ryan Gosling. But there was a precedent in this very World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo had his three-game suspension for elbowing an opponent similarly put on hold. So, not entirely unprecedented, just… unusual.
Adding to the mystery, FIFA's own rules for the video assistant referee (VAR) state that slow-motion should only be used for "facts" (like point of contact), not "intensity" (which should be judged at normal speed). Yet, the video referee used slow-mo and still images for Balogun's red card recommendation. Rules, schmoozles, when there's a World Cup on the line.
Balogun, for his part, handled the whole thing with the zen of a monk, shaking hands with the referee and telling reporters it was unintentional. "I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion... We have to show the correct way to handle things even when you think it's unjust," he said. Pulisic praised his teammate's cool, noting, "Good things happen to people like that."
Good things indeed. Now, Balogun is free to help the U.S. try and make their best World Cup run in the modern era. All because FIFA decided to, shall we say, rethink a red card.
