Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Fifa's statutes are clear about political interference. It is not permitted.

Countries are regularly suspended from international football because of government involvement in national football associations.

Pakistan, for instance, have been suspended three times in the space of eight years.

When it comes to Infantino and Trump, are the rules different?

The World Cup draw, during which Trump was bestowed with the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize, felt like the culmination of two years of Infantino fostering a close relationship with the US president.

"You can always count, Mr President, on my support, on the support of the entire football community to help you make peace and make the world prosper all over the world," Infantino told Trump when presenting the award.

Human rights campaign group FairSquare complained to Fifa's ethics committee in December that Infantino broke the governing body's rules on political neutrality in creating the prize.

With no response, last month 50 MEPs wrote a new letter to the ethics committee, external, external demanding action. Like many situations with Fifa, there has been no response.

Fast-forward to the tournament, and Trump has not been to a single World Cup match. But here he was, taking ownership of Balogun's situation. It was another example of football not doing the talking.

We had seen it with Somali referee Omar Artan. Artan was denied access to the US by immigration officials, with Infantino accused of losing control of his own World Cup. Yet when he faced questions from the media last month - for the first time in over three years - his response was, at best, glib.

"Just, you know, chill, relax," Infantino said of Artan's plight.

Controversy has always felt just around the corner. That something was bubbling under the surface.

And through it all, rarely have there been answers or transparency.

Take Friday's five hours of limbo, when Fifa first decided to change the kick-off time of England's last-16 tie against Mexico, then did a U-turn, while pretending it didn't happen.

The Balogun situation is out of the same playbook.

A decision communicated without any reasoning. Football is just told it is happening, and it must accept it.

Lars-Christer Olsson
Former UEFA chief executive speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

I think seriously that FIFA has to think a lot about not becoming a kindergarten for clowns because the peace prize was stupid. This is dangerous because it interferes in the rules of the game and what football is.

This is why this matter really is important, because you shouldn't be a playground for people like these guys, because it is jeopardising the credibility of the entire sport.

It's a political intervention and of course sports and politics are connected in different campuses but a federation like FIFA should stand above that and they should be very strong in giving the message we are the ones taking the decisions and these kinds of decisions shouldn't be made at all.

I think probably for FIFA it's better to keep quiet, but what I am looking for is a firm reaction from the member associations in FIFA, so that it's not going to be a ridiculous game everybody is laughing about.

It's better to be conscious now for the rest of the tournament, because the tournament has been a success in certain ways, of course, so they should not jeopardise that.

United States

Asked afterwards if he had been affected by being the focus of much of the attention in the build-up, US boss Pochettino said: "It didn't affect our performance. It's not an excuse. It wasn't our day.

"But in a personal way, what is the point to insult or receive a lot of bad messages?

"It's a rule for the federation to apply and to try [to overturn the ban]. My position was to train the team. If Balogun is available because Fifa allow for you to have the player, it's not a problem.

"I feel disappointed with too many people. They put politics and manipulation, talk about ethics and integrity [first]. If we talk about the history of this game, I am disappointed in a personal way."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

US President Donald Trump speaking at the White House before the game on Monday: "He [Balogun] didn't do anything wrong. He's our best player, or one of our best players, and the referee gave him a red card. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't think it meant much.

"Then I started hearing that means he can't play in the next game - at least the next game. If it happened to another player that would have been unfair but when they take your best player or just about - they have some great players - and they say you can't play, that is very unfair."

"It's one thing to penalise somebody for the game, but how do you penalise them for a game that hasn't been played yet? It's very unfair, you can't do that."

Folarin Balogun's availability for the last-16 tie against Belgium dominated the build-up to the match.

The former Arsenal striker may have been at the centre of the debate, but he said he had already come to terms with missing the match following his sending off against Bosnia. "I accepted the decision when I was given the red card," said Balogun."Then I also accepted the decision when I could play. There’s not much else I can really say on the matter.

"I just congratulated Belgium. Similar to when I was given the red card, you have to handle it the right way."

Image source, Getty Images

US President Donald Trump suggested that Belgium fans wouldn't have enjoyed a win over USA had his nation played without Folarin Balogun.

In a White House briefing on Monday afternoon he said: "I will tell you this, the people in Belgium, if they win the game, they can be very proud.

"If they would win the game with a player missing it would be a different feeling."

USA manager Mauricio Pochettino decided to put Balogun in his starting eleven, but that didn't stop Belgium claiming a convincing win.

The Red Devils celebrated their progression to the quarter finals with a social media post which featured a photo of Romelu Lukaku celebrating his side's fourth goal with the caption, 'overturn this'.

Image source, Instagram

We want to hear from you about Fifa's decision to let Folarin Balogun play against Belgium.

Is it right that the ban was suspended, or did it compromise the integrity of the game?

And more importantly, did the move backfire on the United States given their World Cup exit?

Send your comments in by clicking 'Get Involved' at the top of this page.

We will share a selection of your thoughts throughout the morning.

Thanks.

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• Folarin Balogun was shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic as the co-hosts won their last-32 tie 2-0.
• Under Fifa rules, the striker was given an automatic one-match ban
• Fifa then suspended his one-game ban for a year, making him available to play in the round of 16 against Belgium.
• No reasoning behind the move was provided, beyond citing a rule which allows punishments to be suspended.
• US President Donald Trump thanked Fifa for "reversing a great injustice" in a post on Truth Social.
• The Belgian FA said they were "astonished" by the decision.
• Uefa strongly criticised the move. In a statement, it said: "We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision."
• Speaking at the White House on Monday before USA v Belgium, Trump said that he had asked Fifa to review the "very unfair" red card.
• Balogun, who is joint top scorer for USA with three goals at the tournament, started against Belgium and was substituted off in the 92nd minute before his nation's exit was confirmed with the game ending 4-1 to Belgium.

Jeremiah White
Former USA winger speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

We were beaten by a better team. We were out coached, out classed.

Belgium seems to be peaking at the right time.

The moment got to the players. All the extracurricular activity around the red card and how that was treated – that created a lot of noise for the players and they carried it on the field for sure.

The reality is we went in, we were positive that the nation really needed this, and the lights got a little bright. We were against a team who could control every aspect of the game.

We had possession where we they wanted us to have possession.

I wasn’t certain we’d to beat Belgium but I wanted the score to be closer to avoid the humiliation. Just to keep the nation positive and wanting more for this team.

Image source, Getty Images

Tim Vickery
South American football expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think Mauricio Pochettino got it wrong.

I think the right thing to do would have been to leave Folarin Balogun on the bench, not only because it is the right thing to do from a moral point of view, but it's also the right thing to do from the view of coaching his team.

You would diffuse the whole issue.

United States

Image source, Getty Images

United States boss Mauricio Pochettino speaking at full time: "Everyone saw from the beginning that we did not connect with the game. We were never in the game. Even when we scored, we scored the goal for 1-1, we conceded in the next action. It was really tough from the beginning.

"Congratulations to Belgium, they were better than us. It wasn't our day. It's not to find excuses or not to find arguments because we didn't show normally the team can show and that is the reality.

"We need to learn. It is a process to learn and assess the game and understand why we did not approach the game in the same way as the rest of the World Cup. Different reasons, maybe the explanation is so easy, it wasn't our day collectively or individually. The principal person responsible is myself. We need to assess and see, it was not the performance or way we normally play."

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist at Los Angeles Stadium

Poor defending was largely at fault for the USA's heavy defeat.

Charles De Ketelaere was not picked up in the box to tap in the opener, and then was allowed to get the better of two defenders to head in his side's second just moments after the USA had equalised.

But the most calamitous goal was the third.

De Ketelaere tackled hesitant US keeper Matt Freese, who had come out of his area to try and deal with the ball, and Hans Vanaken side-footed the ball into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area.

That gave the Belgians a 3-1 lead and sapped the confidence out of the US fans, who started to leave in the final 10 minutes before Romelu Lukaku's injury-time strike prompted many more to head home.

"There was no willingness to go for the ball," said one disappointed US supporter afterwards.

"There was nothing there. There was no drive, football wasn't alive today."

Another added: "The US had unforced errors all over. They didn't play their best game but Belgium played the way they needed to win that game. To silence the crowd like they did, they put themselves in a great spot to win."

Clinton Morrison
Former Republic of Ireland striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

USA weren't good enough. Belgium showed their class.

Rudi Garcia made some big calls not starting Kevin de Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Romelu Lukaku, but it worked.

Image source, Getty Images