FIFA Rejects Belgium Challenge Over US Striker Balogun's Eligibility For Last 16 Clash

Miami: FIFA dismissed Belgium's challenge to United States striker Folarin Balogun's eligibility for Monday's World Cup last-16 showdown as 'inadmissible', leaving the European side to approach the U.S. Soccer Federation to contest his inclusion.

FIFA suspended Balogun's red-card ban and cleared him to play ‌in the last-16 tie after U.S. President Donald Trump personally urged FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the case. Infantino denied being involved in the final decision.

"The FIFA Appeal Committee has rendered a request submitted by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) as inadmissible," FIFA said in a statement.

"The request was rendered inadmissible on the grounds that the RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to ⁠appeal the decision."

The RBFA said it had still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding Balogun's eligibility and had no alternative but to challenge his eligibility.

The Appeal Committee is chaired by American Neil Eggleston but FIFA said he was not involved in the decision.

However, the RBFA said it has informed the U.S. Soccer Federation that it contests Balogun's eligibility, should the player be listed on the referee's team sheet ahead of kickoff.

"This leaves all further actions open," the RBFA added.

"To date, the RBFA has still not received any grounds for this decision, nor has it received the information it has been requesting since the start of this procedure."

Belgium had ‌requested ⁠a copy of the decision and the motivation declaring Balogun eligible as well as the referee's report.

Earlier on Monday, the RBFA said FIFA considered its correspondence requesting information to constitute an appeal and rejected it on technical grounds.

"For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA's own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant," ⁠the RBFA said.

"While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible.

"All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA's legitimate requests."

The RBFA also said ⁠FIFA removed the automatic player suspension section from a pre-match coordination meeting presentation and failed to explain the change despite repeated oral and written requests.

"Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply ⁠concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole," the RBFA added.