LOS ANGELES: FIFA defended the World Cup referee at the centre of the Folarin Balogun controversy on Monday after the official was branded “very suspect” by US President Donald Trump.
In a statement, FIFA said Brazilian official Rapahel Claus had “demonstrated the highest standards of professionalism and integrity” throughout his career.
Claus had shown US striker Balogun a controversial red card last week, prompting Trump to lobby FIFA to review the forward’s one-match suspension.
FIFA subsequently reprieved Balogun, allowing him to play in Monday’s last-16 clash against Belgium in Seattle, in a decision that has been widely criticised.
Trump had questioned Claus’s refereeing credentials while speaking to reporters in the White House earlier on Monday.
“This referee, who is a little bit suspect if you check his past. I don’t want to say that because I don’t like to create controversy, but very suspect.
He made a call that nobody could believe,” Trump said.
The remarks had already been condemned by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), who said there was nothing in Claus’s background which “gives grounds for suspicion.”
FIFA chief refereeing officer and chairman of the referees committee Pierluigi Collina, said Claus was a key member of the World Cup referees pool.
“Raphael Claus is refereeing at his second FIFA World Cup having been with us in Qatar in 2022,” Collina said in a statement. “He is an experienced and highly respected referee and we maintain full confidence in him as a trusted match official.”
FIFA HITS BACK AT UEFA
Earlier, FIFA’s disciplinary committee said it had the authority to suspend the one-match ban on Balogun. It also fined Balogun $40,000 for coming onto the pitch after the match to celebrate their win over Bosnia and Herzegovina with team-mates after his dismissal.
“Reviewing the legal consequences of red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game,” it said in a statement. “Suspending the effects of a red card based on an explicit provision of the applicable regulations is a much more balanced measure,” the chairperson of FIFA’s disciplinary committee said in a statement.
The FIFA disciplinary committee also responded to UEFA’s statement on the matter, the European football governing body having said that the
“unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” had “crossed a red line”.
“…in the majority of top-tier leagues belonging to UEFA-affiliated member associations the overturning of red cards is a common disciplinary measure, yet this has never raised concerns about crossing any ‘red line’,” the statement read.
The Swiss Football Association also commented on the issue.
“The decision in the Balogun case is incomprehensible to the Swiss Football Association, regardless of how it came about,” said the Swiss FA, whose team are in the World Cup round-of-16. “This decision raises questions and creates uncertainty, particularly regarding the authority of referees decisions, especially when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is involved,” it said.
Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2026