White House Official Argues Why U.S. Had Right to Question Folarin Balogun Red Card

President Trump’s intervention was unprecedented, as was FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s one-game ban for 12 months.

The reversal of Folarin Balogun’s suspension saw the USMNT’s World Cup end under a cloud. | John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images

Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House World Cup taskforce, has argued the United States had the right to question Folarin Balogun’s suspension because of the “highly suspicious” past of referee Raphael Claus and because of the amount of money invested into hosting the tournament.

Despite confirming Balogun’s suspension ahead of the USMNT’s round-of-16 clash with Belgium, FIFA surprisingly reversed the striker’s ban following intervention from the White House and President Donald Trump.

The decision sparked widespread fury across the soccer world, with Jürgen Klopp among those to criticize the verdict publicly, but Giuliani insisted the White House’s involvement was justified.

“We believe in a level playing field,” Giuliani said. “I can tell you President Trump takes it extremely seriously, whether it’s on the pitch or whether it’s in the ballot box.

“We want to make sure that America, especially when you consider all the federal dollars that we laid out for this, all of the years of preparation that went into this, the vision, going back to 2018, that we can ensure at least it was going to be fairly administered on the pitch.”

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Giuliani: Referee Was ‘Highly Suspicious’

Referee Raphael Claus has been in the spotlight. | Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The White House’s intervention is reported to have revolved around the referee that showed the red card to Balogun. Claus initially waved play on, not seeing an infringment in real-time, before reviewing the decision on the pitchside monitor after receiving guidance from VAR.

In 2024, Claus was investigated by the Brazilian Football Confederation over allegations of match-fixing and gambling breaches after he was accused of intentionally sabotaging Botafogo by club owner John Textor. He was subsequently found not-guilty.

“We found it highly suspicious that there was a referee who had been investigated for match fixing previously, and specifically for irregular red cards, issuing irregular red cards,” Giuliani continued.

“Then when you add to the fact that the process was misapplied by how the VAR was initiated there. Contact fouls, you cannot actually utilize the slow-motion in the VAR, and they did that.”

FIFA has already publicly defended referees from accusations of bias following furious criticism from Egypt manager Hossam Hassan, who claimed FIFA were specifically ruling in favor of Lionel Messi and Argentina for financial reasons as the South American outfit. Hassan had seen his side take a shock 2–0 lead, only for Argentina to fight back and win 3–2.

“Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials,” refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina insisted. “When this happens, it may provoke reactions that lead to threats against them and their families. This is not right.

“Equally, nobody can claim that FIFA Refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the FIFA President [Gianni Infantino].”

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