Politics

For Belgium’s Beltway fans, a rout was the best revenge

Published

1 hour ago

July 10, 2026

Belgium’s sports authorities do not appear to have fully moved past the controversy that shrouded their Round of 16 matchup against the United States, but Belgian fans in Washington have.

Folarin Balogun, the American striker whose red-card punishment was suspended by FIFA just before that game, is now barely top of mind.

“I don’t think it had any impact on the game,” Michael McCusker, a Brussels native, said of FIFA’s decision. “Did it give us the extra push? I don’t know. The USA were terrible.”

The White House lobbied hard for Balogun to play against Belgium. And President Donald Trump took all the credit when FIFA lifted his suspension. The Royal Belgian Football Association, in turn, formally challenged the decision. Fans blasted FIFA’s reversal as politically motivated, arguing the organization had bowed to Trump.

But even with Balogun lining up on Monday, the Belgians made mincemeat of the U.S., never trailing in the match. For Belgium’s Beltway fans, winning seems to have taken care of everything.

“I woke up that morning feeling really good,” Margo Vandenbroucke, a Leuven native who works at the International Monetary Fund. “I walked into work that morning and everyone was clapping for me, for Belgium. I think that was the best way of showing that it didn’t matter.”

But if Belgian supporters abroad have moved on, the Balogun scandal is still alive and well in Brussels. In a letter Wednesday, 72 members of the European Parliament called for an investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino — and whether his relationship with Trump played a role in the decision to reverse an on-field disciplinary action.

Politics

Anti-discrimination reports sent to FIFA over Mexico games

Published

7 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The head of FIFA’s anti-discrimination partner — which has dispatched human monitors to every World Cup match so far — said Thursday that the group has submitted “a number of reports regarding matches involving Mexico.”

Piara Powar, executive director of the Fare network, declined in an interview with Blue Light News to say what incidents the reports allege.

But the existence of the reports could spell trouble for the Mexican Football Federation, which has faced a number of sanctions over the past decade from FIFA related to discriminatory practices at its games.

FIFA declined to comment on any specific report Friday, and an inquiry to the Mexican Football Federation’s press inbox went unanswered.

In a statement, the world soccer governing body said “potential incidents are handled by FIFA’s judicial bodies in line with the relevant regulations and match reports, and taking into account the specific circumstances at stake.”

A potential subject included in the reports: Mexican fans repeating an anti-gay chant that has loomed over the national team since it emerged during the 2014 World Cup.

Sometimes referred to as “El Grito,” the chant involves the crowd winding with a prolonged “ehhhhh” as the opposing goalkeeper sets up for a goal kick, followed by a thunderous “puto” as the ball launches upward.

The latter word, which roughly translates to “male prostitute” in Spanish, is listed as a homophobic slur within the global guide to discriminatory practices in soccer authored by the Fare network, an umbrella organization set up to counter discrimination in world soccer.

The chant was audible during broadcasts of Mexico’s last-16 match against England and appeared during the federation’s final group stage tilt against Czechia. The Mexican national team played all of its World Cup matches on home soil, in Mexico City and Guadalajara.

Whether these reports will result in a material penalty is unknown. Powar said that, in most cases, sanctions are announced following the end of the World Cup and are preceded by an investigation and hearings related to the report. Previous punishments have ranged from six-figure fines to forcing the national team to play in front of an empty stadium.

The Mexican federation has unsuccessfully tried to stymie the chant’s popularity. During the 2018 World Cup, Mexican forward Javier Hernandez pleaded with Mexican fans to not invoke it after FIFA announced it was investigating its use during an earlier match.

And ahead of the 2026 tournament, the federation launched a campaignexplicitly encouraging fans to support the team by ditching the chant in favor of a stadium-wide wave — a now unanimous-practice that traces its origins to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Powar said change is still possible.

“It’s not the case that, you know, this culture is fixed or that you can’t change it into a more positive direction, particularly when you’re getting fined the sort of sums the Mexican Federation have over the years,” Powar said.