The striker of the US national football team Folarin Balogun will be available to coach Mauricio Pochettino for the match with Belgium, despite being sent off with a red card in the team's victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1/16-finals of the World Cup, FIFA announced, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
"In accordance with Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the application of the match ban is postponed for a probationary period of one year“, the world football headquarters said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump reacted on his own social network “Truth Social“ on the overturned ban of US striker Folarin Balogun. “Thank you FIFA for doing the right thing and righting a great injustice.“
Up until now, Donald Trump had not appeared at the World Cup, but now the US president has made his position public after the overturning of Folarin Balogun's sanction. It is an open secret that Trump maintains close ties with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. It was Infantino who presented the US president with the widely discussed “FIFA Peace Prize“.
“This only fuels speculation“, believes journalist Tom Boudevel.
“After the match, Trump had already threatened to stop the tournament if FIFA did not overturn the ban. This is putting enormous pressure. "Everyone knows that Infantino and Trump have a direct relationship," the journalist, quoted by media in Belgium, reported Sportal.bg.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia compared FIFA's decision to lift the ban on American striker Folarin Balogun before the match in the 1/8 finals of the World Cup, to an April Fool's joke.
“I didn't know we were playing on April 1, not July 6”, Garcia was quoted as saying by journalist Ben Jacobs, BTA reports.
The 24-year-old striker received a straight red card in the 64th minute of the USA's 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1/16 finals and was expected to miss his team's match in the next round.
On July 5, FIFA lifted the player's ban. Balogun will be eligible to play in the World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium. The match will take place on the night of July 6-7 and kicks off at 3:00 a.m.