A new report suggests that only one FIFA official decided to suspend the red card match suspension for star USMNT striker Folarin Balogun before the Round of 16 match against Belgium.
Balogun exited the Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina after receiving a questionable red card when he accidentally stepped on the right ankle of BIA defender Tarik Muharemovic. Even though the ref did not issue a yellow card before VAR intervened, and even though no action of intent had been shown, Balogun received a red card nonetheless, resulting in a full-game suspension for the Round of 16 match against Belgium. As the days passed, it seemed as if there would be no repeal of the decision until FIFA confirmed on the Sunday before the Belgium match that Balogun’s suspension would be under probation.
As Breitbart News reported at the time, Rafael Claus, the Brazilian referee who issued the questionable red card against Balogun, had been previously “accused of match fixing in his native country in February 2023.”
In what will no doubt seem even more ominous to American fans, Claus was specifically accused of issuing “irregular red cards.” Claus was refereeing in Brazil’s first division.
The accusations were made by the owner of a Brazilian club, who obtained recordings of another official who claimed that other officials were taking bribes.
The case was taken seriously, and Claus was called to testify with his VAR. However, the Brazilian Football Confederation found no evidence that Claus had taken bribes or engaged in any match fixing.
Nonetheless, FIFA’s decision prompted significant backlash from international soccer fans, with claims that the United States had been getting preferential treatment after President Trump personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino, requesting that the red card be under review. A new report by The Times now suggests that the decision to overturn the red card came from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee chairman, Mohammad al-Kamali of the United Arab Emirates, who made it without input from the 17 other members.
“Kamali was the one who gave him the one-match ban and then deferred it for a probationary period of one year, allowing Balogun to play in the quarterfinals against Belgium,” noted the New York Post.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee chairman refused to answer questions when he was approached by the BBC over the weekend, keeping his head down and just walking as a reporter and cameraman with the outlet tried to get him to answer,” it added.
Regarding his call with President Trump, Gianni Infantino said that the president “didn’t tell him what to do.”
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders, and business executives from around the world on many different issues,” Infantino said in a statement addressing the matter. “During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”