Belgium’s soccer federation (RBFA) has released a second statement on FIFA’s controversial decision not to suspend U.S. striker Folarin Balogun for today’s World Cup clash against Les Diables Rouges.

In its communiqué, the RBFA gave further details on the events that unfolded in the hours after world soccer’s governing body freed Balogun up to face Belgium in the last 16. The federation said it has been left with “no alternative but to challenge the player’s eligibility” for the game.

“I asked for a review”

Balogun was sent off for a studs-up tackle in the U.S.’s last-32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday, but escaped an automatic one-game ban when FIFA said yesterday that it had opted to suspend the punishment.

The decision came after an intervention by the U.S. president, Donald Trump, who has acknowledged that he asked FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to reconsider Balogun’s red card. “I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters at the White House this morning.

“If they wouldn’t allow a top player, maybe among the best players on the team, to play, I think it would have had a big stain [on the game].”

However, Trump denied placing pressure on the FIFA chief. “I didn’t tell him what to do, I can’t tell him what to do,” the president insisted. “And I don’t believe he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision.”

“No alternative”

In its statement today, the Belgian federation said: “After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations.

“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA.”

The RBFA continued: “For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible."

The statement concludes: “To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player’s eligibility for the upcoming match.

“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole.”

“Incomprehensible and unjustifiable”

The RBFA’s statement follows a strongly-worded communiqué by UEFA, soccer’s European confederation, which said FIFA’s decision has “crossed a red line”. “We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” UEFA said today.

When is the U.S. vs Belgium?

The round-of-16 clash is due to take place in Seattle today, Monday, July 6, with kickoff at Lumen Field scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

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