The news that Folarin Balogun would be eligible to suit up against Belgium Monday night was met with near-universal celebration across the United States.
Just don’t ask Belgian fans in the seat of U.S. power.
POLITICO caught up with several of them at the Belgian embassy’s watch party at Wunder Garten, a trendy bar in Washington’s NoMa neighbourhood.
“I had to keep up my vomiting,” said Johan Hamels, an Ottawa resident from Leuven in Washington on a business trip. “Rules are rules. Every team is briefed by FIFA. And for every game, it’s in one of their slides. That you get a red card, you’re off next time.”
Balogun was given a red card in the Americans’ Round of 32 matchup last week against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which typically carries a suspension for the following game. But FIFA suspended his ban on Sunday.
Critics have charged that the White House pressured FIFA into making the switch. European politicians have slammed Balogun’s inclusion, and the Royal Belgian Football Association formally challenged FIFA’s reversal on Monday morning.
And while FIFA insists the ruling had nothing to do with politics, President Donald Trump is taking credit for getting Balogun back on the field.
“I’m Belgian,” said Win Van Dijck, a native of Brussels who has lived in the U.S. for the last five years. “So I appreciate surrealism. But it’s just too much.”
It’s another example of Trump pulling the strings in a tournament that has increasingly strayed into the political arena, they say.
“Having it reversed based on a call from the American God is a little bit lack of workmanship. And it’s sad for the kids here because that’s what they see as an example,” said Brigitte, a retiree who came to the U.S. in 1984.