{"id":940594,"date":"2026-07-09T04:57:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/940594\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T04:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:57:37","slug":"belgium-renews-hostilities-with-fifa-at-the-world-cup-this-time-over-its-training-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/940594\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium renews hostilities with FIFA at the World Cup. This time over its training pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kevin<\/p>\n

Belgium has taken aim at its training facilities and has now moved to a new base ahead of Friday’s quarterfinals Dirk Wam \/ Belga Mag \/ Belga \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Belgium has renewed hostilities with FIFA at the World Cup \u2014 this time over its training pitch.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s federation is continuing to pursue an explanation from world soccer\u2019s governing body<\/a> over why it decided to suspend Folarin Balogun\u2019s one-game red card ban which allowed him to face Belgium with the United States in the round of 16 on Monday.<\/p>\n

Now, it has taken aim at their training facilities in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

A statement from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) on Wednesday said that upon arriving at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), where the team was scheduled to begin it\u2019s quarterfinal preparations, an inspection of the proposed training pitch \u201cshowed that the quality of the playing surface did not meet the minimum standards required for our training session.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RBFA subsequently asked FIFA to relocate the team\u2019s training base, it said, with that request subsequently granted.<\/p>\n

The team will now use MLS side LA Galaxy\u2019s training facilities in Carson ahead of Friday\u2019s quarterfinal against Spain at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

A statement from LMU to The Athletic appeared to disagree with Belgium\u2019s assessment of their field conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSullivan Field is regularly tested to ensure the highest quality,\u201d it read. \u201cOur field is in top condition and has been used by several professional sports teams, including planned engagements this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgium formally objected to the decision<\/a> to suspend Balogun\u2019s one-game ban, saying it had \u201cno alternative\u201d but to do so. FIFA, however, disagreed with its appeal committee deeming the appeal \u201cinadmissible\u201d as it was \u201cnot a party to the proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia joked prior to the game that he wondered if the whole situation was an April Fools prank<\/a> before going on to guide his team to a comprehensive 4-1 win over the co-hosts in Seattle to knock them out of the tournament.<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Jul 9, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium has taken aim at its training facilities and has now moved to a new base ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[114802,73628,7,6,15,3373,156,30045],"class_list":["post-940594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-belgium","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-soccer","tag-sports-business","tag-us-mens-national-team"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116888249812823749","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}