Former Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry believes that FIFA finally reached the right decision by overturning Folarin Balogun’s World Cup suspension, but questioned why football’s governing body waited until the eve of the Round of 16 clash between the United States and Belgium to act. Speaking on Fox Sports after FIFA’s dramatic U-turn, Henry said the late decision would inevitably affect Belgium’s preparations, even though Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina should never have resulted in a suspension in the first place. His comments came after FIFA cleared the American striker to play following a rare disciplinary review. “Breaking news for Belgium. It will break their spirit a little bit because you prepare to play the game in a certain way and suddenly you have to change your preparation,” said Henry. “If you go back to the point, I don’t think it was the right call. We all said it. We all know he didn’t do it on purpose. But when you are a Belgium, preparing for the game, that changes everything.” The former World Cup winner agreed with FIFA’s final decision but criticized the timing of the decision, pointing to Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which allows the implementation of a suspension to be delayed. “It is the right call, but why so late? Why didn’t it happen immediately when Article 27 took so long?” Henry added. Balogun was shown a straight red card during the United States’ 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina after referee Raphael Claus upgraded the penalty following a VAR review. The dismissal triggered an automatic one-match suspension before FIFA announced on Sunday that the punishment would instead be suspended for a one-year probationary period under Article 27. The decision follows a phone call between the US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with the Associated Press (AP) reporting that Trump requested a review of the red card. Trump later celebrated the verdict on social media, writing, “Thank you FIFA for doing what is right, and reversing a great injustice!” The decision sparked a fierce debate across the football world. Belgium manager Rudi Garcia cynically compared the decision to April Fools’ Day, while the Royal Belgian Football Association said it was exploring all legal options to protect the integrity of the competition. Norway coach Ståle Solbakken also condemned the move, calling it “a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will ruin the World Cup.” For the United States, however, the decision represents a big improvement ahead of the knockout clash against Belgium, where head coach Mauricio Pochettino welcomed the verdict after arguing that his team had been punished by playing with 10 men for more than 30 minutes against Bosnia and Herzegovina.