FIFA Blocks Red Card, Letting US Striker Play

FIFA on Sunday suspended the disputed red card given Folarin Balogun, returning the striker to the US men's team in time for its Round of 16 World Cup match against Belgium on Monday. Balogun was ejected in the second half of the Americans' win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday after a video review upgraded his challenge on a defender to a red. That decision originally carried an automatic one-game ban. With FIFA now scrapping both the card and the suspension, CBS Sports reports, the USMNT regains its starting center forward for a knockout match. A US victory would put the team in a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time since 2002, per ESPN.

The FIFA announcement said the automatic suspension is frozen for a one-year probationary period. "If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period," the statement says, "the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced." Balogun leads the team with three goals in the tournament, per the AP. The game is being played Monday evening in Seattle.