Overview
- FIFA's Disciplinary Committee applied Article 27 on July 6 to suspend enforcement of Folarin Balogun’s one‑match red‑card ban and placed the sanction on a one‑year probationary period.
- U.S. President Donald Trump publicly said he asked FIFA to review the red card and Balogun was reinstated to start the Round of 16 match that the United States then lost 4-1 to Belgium.
- Argentina’s 3-2 comeback over Egypt produced multiple disputed VAR and referee decisions and prompted Egypt coach Hossam Hassan to accuse officials of a rigged outcome.
- FIFA’s announcement of an all‑Argentinian officiating team for France vs Morocco on July 8 sparked social‑media accusations of favoritism and added to public mistrust of officiating choices.
- The sequence of events has prompted political statements, academic criticism and calls from some parliaments for greater procedural transparency and possible review of how disciplinary and VAR decisions are made.