A spokesman for the Norwegian Football Federation told Reuters that the federation will consider filing a complaint before the Ethics Committee of the International Football Association (FIFA) regarding the decision to suspend a punishment against American striker Folarin Balogun in the World Cup, following intervention by US President Donald Trump.

Balogun had been suspended for one match after receiving a red card during his team's 2-0 victory over Bosnia in the round of 32, which meant his absence from the match against Belgium in the round of 16.

That prompted Trump to contact FIFA President Gianni Infantino and urge him to reconsider the punishment, leading the game's governing body to suspend the execution of the penalty for one year.

Despite the US team's loss to Belgium, Trump's intervention and the subsequent decision by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee to freeze the punishment sparked widespread criticism.

A spokesman for Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation, told Reuters in a text message: 'The Norwegian federation will demand that Infantino and FIFA acknowledge that the reversal of the decision was a mistake.'

The Norwegian federation had earlier supported a complaint filed with FIFA's Ethics and Integrity Committee by the non-profit human rights organization Fair Square, regarding the awarding of a peace prize to Trump, noting that this constitutes a breach of the political neutrality rules of the sport's governing body.

The Norwegian federation is now considering whether to file a new complaint with FIFA's Ethics Committee.

The spokesman for the Norwegian federation explained: 'Our board will decide at its meeting on August 6 whether to merge the two cases into one or consider them as two separate cases.'

FIFA has not yet responded to Reuters' request for comment.

Infantino's relationship with Trump came under scrutiny during the tournament, with many calling on the 56-year-old Swiss lawyer to focus on football rather than politics.

Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish League, criticized the decision regarding Balogun earlier this week, adding that the time has come for Infantino to resign from his post.

Tebas said: 'Suspending the punishment of the American player is extremely serious. They were lucky that Belgium eliminated the United States, otherwise a crisis would have occurred that might have cost Infantino his position.'