The Belgian Foreign Minister today called FIFA’s decision to suspend the red card given to US forward Balogun at the 2026 World Cup incomprehensible, questioning the political intervention of Donald Trump.
“If a phone call really explains this incomprehensible decision, it would be a blatant violation of the most basic rules of football and sport,” Maxime Prévot said in a statement. “It would be very serious. How could FIFA still defend fair play in a credible way?” he stated, just hours before the match between Belgium and the United States.
For his part, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever chose to approach the controversy with irony, using his cat, Maximus, as a lighthearted communication tool on social media.
“Red card? I’m still going to play!” Maximus “exclaims,” commenting on a photograph in which he appears with a red card hanging from his paw, relaxing on the gray carpet of the Prime Minister’s office building in Brussels.
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Contacted by the French news agency AFP to find out if Bart De Wever intended to make a personal statement, his communication team referred only to Maximus’s post.
Reactions of outrage multiplied today following FIFA’s decision (the body that governs international football), made public on Sunday, to suspend the red card given to American Folarin Balogun, which would have prevented him from playing in the round of 16 against Belgium.
Two sources close to the matter confirmed on Sunday that Donald Trump, who has long demonstrated his friendship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, called him to request a review of the American forward’s suspension.
Last December, the FIFA president presented Donald Trump with a newly created award—the FIFA Peace Prize—allegedly to recognize exceptional leadership and initiatives for global unity and peace.
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The announcement of the FIFA award was made immediately following the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s refusal to grant the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump.
The creation and presentation of the award sparked strong internal and external criticism, with a group of 50 MEPs sending a formal letter to the FIFA Ethics Committee demanding an investigation.
The phone call made by the US President to the FIFA leader happened just hours after the round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which Balogun was sent off.
The top scorer for the US national team in this World Cup will, therefore, be available to play in Seattle, in the round of 16, against Belgium at 17:00 local time (01:00 in Lisbon).
