Garcia brands Balogun ban reversal an 'April Fools' as Belgium rage at FIFA ruling

Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia has sharply criticised FIFA after the governing body overturned Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension, clearing the Monaco forward to face Belgium in the World Cup round-of-16 in Seattle.

Balogun had been set to miss the last-16 tie after receiving a red card in the United States’ round-of-32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he was dismissed for a foul on Tarik Muharemovic. FIFA subsequently invoked Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code, which allows an immediate suspension to be deferred for a 12-month probationary period — meaning the 25-year-old is now available for the remainder of the tournament under Mauricio Pochettino.

Only a repeat of the same type of infringement within that 12-month window would see the original ban reinstated.

Garcia was unsparing in his assessment of the decision. “I thought the World Cup was in July, not April. It’s now April Fools,” he said. “We’re not defending the national team or the federation. We’re defending football.”

The Royal Belgian Football Association had already issued a condemnation of the ruling on Sunday, and Garcia’s comments represent the most pointed public response yet from within the Belgium camp. The decision was reportedly taken after lobbying from US President Donald Trump.

Garcia’s side will face the United States in Seattle, with the winner advancing to a quarter-final against either Portugal or Spain.

Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville also weighed in critically. “It absolutely stinks, let’s be really clear,” he said. “But what I would say is the thing that stinks the most is there should be a review process in place — because I actually didn’t think it was a red card and I think there should be a process which allows it to be overturned. But if there’s no process for it to be overturned and then somehow FIFA, from nowhere, have just decided to basically let a player play and the rules are the same for everybody else — I would be absolutely raging if I was Belgium and every other team in the tournament that’s had a player sent off that might think it’s a little bit hard done to. Are we surprised? No, not with this lot.”