After U.S. President Donald Trump's intervention led to a red card ban being suspended, England has begun weighing whether to ask the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to apply the same judgment to its own player's sending-off.
According to Britain's BBC on Wednesday (Korea time), the Football Association (FA) is reviewing whether to appeal the disciplinary action against England defender Jarell Quansah, who was shown a red card and sent off in the round-of-16 match against Mexico at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
Quansah, who started at right full-back in Saturday's match against Mexico, received a red card in the ninth minute of the second half for a rough tackle on opposing defender Jesús Gallardo.
Despite being down a man, England beat Mexico 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
However, the BBC forecast that Quansah "could face a two-match suspension, with the incident regarded as a serious foul."
It then reported that the FA is reviewing future measures related to Quansah's disciplinary action, prompted by the case in which U.S. star forward Balogun had his sending-off ban suspended following Trump's intervention.
Trump was earlier reported to have asked FIFA to reconsider the one-match suspension Balogun received after he was sent off for committing a foul on an opposing defender in the tournament's round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
FIFA subsequently notified the U.S. Soccer Federation that it would suspend the enforcement of the one-match ban imposed on Balogun for one year. If he does not commit a foul of the same nature and severity during the one-year grace period, the disciplinary action will be officially withdrawn. Trump wrote on the social networking service Truth Social that day, "Thank you to FIFA for doing the right thing and correcting a great injustice."
FIFA's move is highly unusual. FIFA's suspension decision, which had made Balogun unavailable for the match against Belgium, allowed him to start in the round-of-16.
The Royal Belgian Football Association, the round-of-16 opponent, immediately objected. The association said the move "runs directly counter to tournament regulations" and that it "will review all possible response measures."
Criticism erupted strongly not only from bodies such as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) but also within the United States.
Sports outlet The Athletic reported that the Balogun case could lead to numerous appeals.
