Belgium says FIFA rejected its request for ruling on Balogun eligibility

BRUSSELS — The Belgian Football Federation said it has not received an official decision or explanation from FIFA regarding the eligibility of U.S. national team forward Folarin Balogun in the teams' round-of-16 World Cup match, but added it has continued to press its protest. The federation said it asked FIFA for a copy of the ruling, but that the world body declared the request inadmissible on procedural grounds. Belgian officials said the submission sought only an official explanation of the decision, not a formal appeal, and accused FIFA of treating the request as a challenge and rejecting it. FIFA also did not explain, according to the federation, why a paragraph addressing document changes and automatic match suspensions for players was removed during the match coordination meeting. Belgium has continued to contest the decision to allow Balogun to play after he received a yellow card in the 32nd minute.