France appeal Olise’s yellow card after Balogun case

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In the wake of the suspension of the one-match ban that allowed USA striker Folarin Balogun to be available for selection against Belgium, the French Football Federation has appealed to FIFA to rescind Michael Olise’s yellow card, which he received during France’s Round of 16 victory over Paraguay on Saturday.

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Olise, France’s playmaker and one of the tournament’s standout performers, was booked following an altercation with Matías Galarza. The Paraguayan midfielder went to ground holding his face, but replays appeared to show that the FC Bayern Munich forward had only grabbed his shirt.

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The booking means Olise will head into Thursday’s World Cup quarter-final against Morocco carrying a yellow card. If he is booked again and France progress, he would miss a potential semi-final against either Spain or Portugal.

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According to The Athletic, sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly, confirmed that France had appealed the decision to FIFA.

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The FFF’s move comes after FIFA suspended Balogun’s one-match ban following an intervention involving U.S. President Donald Trump, government officials, U.S. Soccer and an extensive legal team.

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However, the FFF insists its appeal is not a direct response to the Balogun case, maintaining that Olise’s booking was unjustified on its own merits.

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In Balogun’s case, FIFA cited Article 27 of its disciplinary code in suspending the striker’s ban for one year.

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That decision has since sparked widespread criticism, with the Royal Belgian Football Association and UEFA among the strongest critics.

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The European governing body said in a statement on Monday that the decision had “crossed a red line” and left “the integrity of the game … at stake.”

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“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” UEFA added.

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