USA vs Belgium

Before match:

RBFA STATEMENT UPDATE

Following its previous statement, the RBFA wishes to publicly explain the events of the past few hours.

After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations.

As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.

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

Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response.

To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player's eligibility for the upcoming match.

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.

From X (Twitter): https://x.com/Acyn/status/2074136990191436149

RBFA Statement on FIFA Appeal Committee Decision

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has received the decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee, signed by its member Mr Salman Al-Ansari, which declares the RBFA's case inadmissible and confirms the earlier decision allowing United States player Folarin Balogun to play.

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 id est a copy of the decision and the motivation declaring the player eligible as well as the referee's report. Which is a breach of FIFA regulations.

The RBFA has informed the United States Soccer Federation that it contests the eligibility of the player, should the player be listed on the referee's team sheet.

This leaves all further actions open.

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Charles De Ketelaere est élu HOMME DU MATCH de cette rencontre entre la Belgique et les USA !

Une récompense pleinement méritée pour notre attaquant