Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The news that Folarin Balogun would be eligible to suit up against Belgium Monday night was met with near-universal celebration across the country.<\/p>\n
Just don\u2019t ask the Belgian fans living here.<\/p>\n
POLITICO caught up with several of them at the Belgian embassy\u2019s watch party at Wunder Garten, a trendy bar in Washington\u2019s NoMa neighbourhood.,<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to keep up my vomiting,\u201d said Johan Hamels, an Ottawa resident from Leuven in Washington on a business trip. \u201cRules are rules. Every team is briefed by FIFA. And for every game, it\u2019s in one of their slides. That you get a red card, you\u2019re off next time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balogun was given a red card in the Americans\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Critics have charged that the White House pressured<\/a> FIFA into making the switch. European politicians have slammed Balogun\u2019s inclusion, and the Royal Belgian Football Association formally<\/a> challenged FIFA\u2019s reversal on Monday morning.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m Belgian,\u201d said Win Van Dijck, a native of Brussels who has lived in the U.S. for the last five years. \u201cSo I appreciate surrealism. But it\u2019s just too much.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s another example of Trump pulling the strings in a tournament that has increasingly strayed into the political arena, they say.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving it reversed based on a call from the American God is a little bit lack of workmanship. And it\u2019s sad for the kids here because that\u2019s what they see as an example,\u201d said Brigitte, a retiree who came to the U.S. in 1984.<\/p>\n