Donald Trump didn’t just tweet about Folarin Balogun’s red card. He picked up the phone, called FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and asked for a review. That much is now public, after Trump confirmed the conversation during a Monday press conference at the White House.
The red card came during the United States’ 32-round win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Referee Raphael Claus showed Balogun a straight red for a challenge on Tarik Muharemovic, where Balogun’s studs scraped down the defender’s calf before landing on and twisting his ankle. It looked bad in real time. Replays didn’t help much either. But Trump saw it differently.
“I saw the play, and I’m a person that loves sports… That wasn’t a foul,” Trump said. “That wasn’t even an infraction. This referee, who is a little bit suspect if you check his past. He made a call that nobody could believe. He’s our best player, or one of our best players. And he gave him a red card. I didn’t know what that meant… Yes, I asked for a review by FIFA.”
Trump also admitted he didn’t initially know what a red card meant. “When I found out, I said, ‘You gotta be kidding!’”
FIFA then did something extremely rare. They invoked Article 27 of the disciplinary code, which allows a judicial body to suspend a disciplinary measure fully or partially. They put Balogun’s red card on probation for one year, letting him play in the round of 16 against Belgium. That move drew immediate backlash from UEFA, Belgium’s football association, and several other organizations who accused FIFA of compromising sporting integrity.
FIFA stands by the referee
Now FIFA is pushing back. Hard. They released a statement defending Claus, calling him “one of the world’s leading professional referees and a valued member of Team One at the FIFA World Cup.” They said he’s shown “the highest standards of professionalism and integrity” throughout his career. The statement also made a broader point: “It is very simple and cannot ever be overstated — without referees, there is no football.”
Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer, doubled down. “Raphael Claus is refereeing at his second FIFA World Cup having been with us in Qatar in 2022,” Collina said. “He is an experienced and highly respected referee and we maintain full confidence in him as a trusted match official.”
Claus has officiated more than 600 matches in his career. He’s 46 years old. This is his second World Cup. He’s built a reputation that FIFA clearly feels is worth defending, even when the most powerful person in American politics is calling him suspect.
There’s no way to know what happens next. The U.S. plays Belgium soon. Balogun will be on the field. Claus might be too. And Trump will be watching, probably on a screen somewhere, ready to offer another opinion. You don’t need a red card to know that much.
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