​Andrew Giuliani, who heads the White House World Cup task force, stepped forward this week to defend the Trump administration’s involvement in the Folarin Balogun red card controversy, partly tying the decision to the substantial federal funding the United States has dedicated to hosting the tournament. During a briefing at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, Giuliani faced questions from an EFE News correspondent about whether officials had weighed potential backlash at home or abroad before President Trump contacted FIFA president Gianni Infantino to discuss the World Cup suspension.
Giuliani, directing criticism at the referee who issued the red card to U.S. Men’s National Team striker Balogun, pointed to what he called suspicious circumstances surrounding the dismissal, while also emphasizing America’s broader duties as host nation, in line with reports from The Mirror US. “We believe in a level playing field,” Giuliani said. “I can tell you President Trump takes this 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 it was fair and properly administered on the field.”
Giuliani reiterated the administration’s main justification for its involvement: grave concerns about referee Raphael Claus, who issued the red card to Balogun during the U.S. Soccer Team’s Round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He noted that Claus had previously testified as part of a 2024 Brazilian Senate inquiry into match-fixing and referee allocations, although he acknowledged that Claus was not accused of wrongdoing in that investigation. Giuliani argued that VAR had been inappropriately used to review the incident in slow motion for what he described as a routine contact foul. “When you put those two facts together, we concluded it was very, very suspicious,” he said. He also claimed that the U.S. Soccer appeal, which preceded Trump’s call to Infantino, produced what he called “the correct result.”
Giuliani drew parallels between the current situation and alleged officiating irregularities in other American sports, alluding to MLB pitchers accused of manipulating pitches for betting markets and previous scrutiny of NBA officiating. Both FIFA and the Brazilian Football Confederation have publicly supported Claus’s integrity, with FIFA stating that he has “consistently demonstrated the highest standards.” The broader narrative, according to Giuliani, is that American oversight and intervention were necessary to safeguard the fairness of a tournament funded and hosted by the United States.