Thread — Plamenu

Mat Wright@MatWright@mastodon.social

Every team should simply refuse to play the USA until that players deserved red card is reinstated and upheld

FIFA is all corruption all the time

Statement from the Belgian Football Association

#FIFA #WorldCup

RBFA STATEMENT

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is astonished by FIFA's decision to
declare suspended United States player Folarin Balogun eligible to play in the
USA-Belgium match on Monday, 6 July at 5:00 p.m. (Seattle time).

FIFA bases its decision on Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This provision
states that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may decide to suspend the
enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction.

However, Article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly provides that a
red card (sending-off) automatically results in a suspension for the team's next
match, as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA
World Cup.

Furthermore, and irrespective of the above, the decision is in direct contradiction
with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations, as set
out in Article 10.5:

"If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card
(second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team's
subsequent match. In addition, further sanctions may be imposed."

The automatic nature of such a suspension was also explicitly reaffirmed in FIFA
World Cup 2026 Circular No. 16, which was distributed to all participating member
associations on 12 May 2026.

The same rule is reiterated at every FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Coordination
Meeting prior to each match and is included in all FIFA World Cup 2026 workshop
presentations.

In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect
the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and
at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options.

Kinetix@kinetix@humanwords.party

Replying to @MatWright@mastodon.social

@MatWright
I kind of just wish people would stop supporting FIFA altogether.

It's not that hard, I've done it my entire life. Hasn't cost me a dime.

Jul 6, 2026, 02:08 UTCen