FIFA has been accused of overturning USMNT striker Folarin Balogun's red card based on "political phone calls" by its former president Sepp Blatter.
Football's global governing body confirmed on Sunday that the one-match ban imposed on Balogun for his red card in the round-of-32 over Bosnia and Herzegovina had been suspended for one year, clearing him to face Belgium in the round-of-16 on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the decision to "reverse a great injustice," amid reports the American government applied pressure to FIFA to lift the ban.
FIFA and the White House's World Cup Task Force are yet to comment on those reports, but former FIFA president Blatter has said he believes the organisation has serious questions to answer.
"Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies," a post on Blatter's X account read.
"If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President -- and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match -- the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis [where are you going], FIFA?
"Football must never become a playground for political power."
Blatter's reign as FIFA president ended in 2015 when he was banned from football for an initial eight years, reduced to six on appeal, in regard to a payment made to Michel Platini.
Both men were cleared in the Swiss courts of wrongdoing in regard to the payment, which they have always insisted was back payment for work Platini had done as an advisor to Blatter.
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A further six-year suspension was imposed on Blatter by FIFA's ethics committee in 2021 in relation to other breaches of its ethics code.
The Belgian football association (RBFA) said it was "astonished" by the decision taken by FIFA's disciplinary committee and said it was "investigating all potential options."
It was reported on Monday morning that the RBFA had lodged an appeal against the decision, and that the association had been given until 1pm Monday UK time to submit documents.
FIFA has not yet confirmed it has granted the RBFA leave to appeal.
Belgium's head coach Rudi Garcia likened what had happened to an April Fool's Day joke, while his England counterpart Thomas Tuchel said it was a "strange" decision following his side's 3-2 win over Mexico on Sunday.
"Who overturns this decision and when and on what grounds?" the German asked.
"And how far does this go now? It's just strange for me. We just want to have consistency in the decisions."
