FIFA Quietly Suspended Two U.S. Soccer Officials Before Belgium Match

FIFA suspended two U.S. Soccer officials ahead of Monday night’s 4–1 loss to Belgium in Seattle, quietly announcing the bans on its website.

The officials were team manager Sam Zapatka and U.S. Soccer vice president of security Frank Pannell. 

The exact reason why Zapatka and Pannell were suspended isn’t clear, though it may be related to FIFA’s controversial handling of Folarin Balogun’s red card. 

A spokesperson for U.S. Soccer acknowledged the suspensions but declined to comment on them, directing questions to FIFA, which did not comment.

FIFA released three separate “disciplinary previews” for Monday’s games. The first included Balogun’s suspension, the second listed only players and coaches who had yellow cards but not Balogun, and the third listed Zapatka and Pannell.

The two updates were the only two updated disciplinary previews for the entire tournament; every other match day just has a single disciplinary preview listed.

Balogun was set to serve an automatic one-game suspension after his red card in last Wednesday’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina until FIFA and the U.S. government intervened.

In an unsigned 13-point statement about its widely criticized decision to let Balogun play Monday night, FIFA’s disciplinary committee said that Balogun wrongly “entered the field of play to celebrate with his teammates despite his expulsion” after the win. The statement said that FIFA was fining Balogun $40,000 for his red card foul and improper presence at the team’s celebration, though it said very little about Balogun entering the pitch other than that it found him guilty of doing so.

FIFA’s disciplinary code says that any player who has been sent off must be chaperoned but may sit in the stands if they are not selected for a drug test and are no longer wearing game equipment. The same section of the code governing expulsions and suspensions says that any banned officials are allowed to sit in the stands “but not in the immediate vicinity of the field of play” while suspended, and they cannot go in the locker room or communicate with players or technical staff during the game.

Pannell and Zapatka appear to be the only two federation officials who were disciplined at this World Cup, according to FIFA’s website, although several coaches received yellow cards.

Zapatka has been a regular on the pitch for U.S. Soccer dating back years and was on the sidelines for the U.S. matches before Monday night’s loss. His LinkedIn page says he worked for the federation in a variety of roles since 2015 before being promoted to men’s national team manager in 2020.

It was Zapakta, for example, who formed the group chat where the 2026 World Cup players were informed they made the roster.

Pannell has said that he worked for the Secret Service and CIA before transitioning to a career in private security.