​A fan advocacy group has asked the International Olympic Committee to investigate FIFA’s decision to overturn U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension during the World Cup, alleging FIFA president Gianni Infantino breached the association’s rules on political neutrality.FairSquare, a nonprofit organization, filed a complaint asking the IOC to look into Infantino’s involvement in the decision and whether his support for President Donald Trump played a role in it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBalogun, the U.S.’s leading scorer in the World Cup, received a controversial red card in the Americans’ round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, automatically earning him a suspension for the next match vs. Belgium.1 / 23Folarin Balogun fouls Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during their World Cup knockout match on July 1, 2026. The play was later reviewed by VAR and Balogun was charged with a red card. He was initially facing the possibility of missing Americans’ crucial knockout-stage match against Belgium. FIFA originally announced the automatic one-game suspension that comes with a red card would stand, but it reversed course and suspended Balogun’s suspension for one year.(Michael Steele, Getty Images)A red card or suspension cannot be appealed. However, FIFA later overturned the suspension on July 5 by issuing a one-sentence statement. FIFA defended its position in a longer statement the following day.Infantino acknowledged receiving a phone call from Trump, but said it played no role in the ultimate decision to allow Balogun to play in a match the U.S. ended up losing 4-1 to Belgium.”All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said on the day of the game against Belgium. “I think ​they made a really brilliant decision. I think the referee’s call was horrible and nobody talks about that. They talk about the red ​card like it’s fine, nobody talks the referee’s decision to red card.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementInfantino said FIFA’s judicial committees operate independently and he played no role in the decision.Folarin Balogun of the U.S. is shown a red card by referee Raphael Claus.Meanwhile, the Times of London reported on Sunday, July 12, that a single FIFA official was responsible for overturning Balogun’s suspension − without any input from the other 17 members on his disciplinary committee.According to the Times’ report, FIFA disciplinary chair Mohammad al-Kamali had never before been the sole arbiter of a disciplinary committee decision in more than 100 previous cases it found. In most instances, important decisions were issued by a group of three disciplinary committee members.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKamali, who is from the United Arab Emirates, declined to answer several questions about the decision when questioned July 11 by the BBC.This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: IOC asked to investigate FIFA overturning Balogun