Could Belgium refuse to take the field if USA plays Folarin Balogun? Belgian FA has left 'all further actions open'

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Belgium continues to try any and every route to appeal the Folarin Balogun decision.

They can't believe that FIFA overturned the one-game red-card suspension for the United States striker, a decision which came just a day before these teams face off in a World Cup Round of 16 game on Monday night.

Belgium's latest statement includes this paragraph:

“The RBFA has informed the United States Soccer Federation that it contests the eligibility of the player, should the player be listed on the referee’s team sheet. This leaves all further actions open.”

And that, well, raises all sorts of questions. What's the most a team could do?

A team could choose, boldly, not to take the pitch.

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Could Belgium refuse to play?

Belgium wouldn't be the first team to refuse to take to the field, although they'd be the first for a reason quite like this one.

The most common scenario when a club or international football team refuses to go on the field is in the case of abuse directed toward one of their players.

This wouldn't be so much in protest against the opposition but against FIFA's decision.

If Belgium refused to play, it's hard to believe FIFA could come up with anything but making them choose between a forfeit and actually playing the game.

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To be clear, they haven't said anything explicitly like this. They just seem to have kept all their options open based on how they phrased their statement.

And on the night of a World Cup match, it's hard to think of a bolder protest than staying off the field.

Would Belgium's players want that? Probably not. It seems they'd rather settle this on the pitch.

This controversy isn't going away, though.