As if losing 4-1 to Belgium in the Round of 16 wasn't bad enough, U.S. soccer lost two officials to a suspension.
Prior to Monday night's match, FIFA announced suspensions for U.S. team manager Sam Zapatka and U.S. Soccer vice president of security Frank Pannel. It's unclear at this time why they were suspended.
"A spokesperson for U.S. Soccer acknowledged the suspensions but declined to comment on them, directing questions to FIFA, which did not comment," Dennis Young and Maragret Fleming wrote for Front Office Sports.
The timing of this announcement is interesting to say the least. FIFA caused quite the uproar over the weekend by suspending U.S. star Folarin Balogun's red card.
© Phil Noble-Reuters via Imagn Images.
It's been a wild week for the USMNT.
Since Balogun's red card was suspended by FIFA, he was cleared to play for the United States in the Round of 16. Even though the Belgium soccer federation wanted to appeal that decision, FIFA quickly shot that request down.
"The FIFA Appeal Committee has rendered a request submitted by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) as inadmissible in relation to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee's decision to suspend for one year the match suspension imposed on United States national team player Folarin Balogun," FIFA said in a statement on Monday. "The chairperson of the FIFA Appeal Committee, Neil Eggleston [from the United States], was not involved in the decision. The request was rendered inadmissible on the grounds that the RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision."
At the end of the day, Belgium got the last laugh by dismantling the USMNT and booking a spot in the quarterfinals.
