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The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished” by the decision, noting FIFA’s disciplinary code states that a red card results in an automatic suspension for a team’s next game, “as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup.”

The Belgian soccer body said it is investigating “all potential options” to safeguard the “legitimate rights” of all teams at the World Cup and to protect the “principles of fair play.”

The team’s head coach, Rudi Garcia, was even more blunt in his criticism during a press conference for his team on Sunday and quipped he didn’t know that July 5 at the World Cup was “April Fool’s Day.”

Garcia said that when Belgium goes out to play on Monday night, it is not defending the national team or the country’s soccer federation, but rather “defending football with its ethics and integrity.”

Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, seated next to Garcia, said the team was surprised by the timing of the decision—just a day before the game—but “nothing changes” for the player and the team’s focus is on the pitch.

According to The Athletic, FIFA has granted Belgium the right to appeal the Balogun decision, but they have been given no guarantees that a decision will be reached before the game starts on Monday evening.

Chief CriticUnion of European Football Associations (UEFA), the governing body of European soccer, issued a scathing statement on Monday saying the decision to suspend Balogun’s red card “crossed a red line.” Citing other players who served a one match ban after a red card, UEFA said: “A minimum automatic suspension of one match f