White House’s World Cup head defends Trump lobbying Fifa over red card
Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House’s World Cup taskforce, has defended Donald Trump’s lobbying of Fifa to lift the suspension of US player Folarin Balogun for Monday’s game against Belgium.
The US president claimed that Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, who showed Balogun a red card in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was “a little bit suspect, if you check his past”. This was apparently a reference to a match-fixing investigation by Brazil’s senate in 2024 that examined how referees were assigned to games but did not accuse Claus of wrongdoing.
Giuliani told reporters at the Foreign Press Center in Washington DC: “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. Then when you add the fact that the process was misapplied by how VAR [video assistant referee] was initiated. For contact fouls, you cannot actually utilise the slow motion in the VAR, and they did that.
“So when you add those two facts together there, we found it was very, very highly suspicious. And look, the US government, whether it’s at the ballot box or whether it is on the playing field, we want fair play, right?”
Challenged by a reporter who said Claus had merely given testimony to the match-fixing investigation, and was not a target of it himself, Giuliani admitted: “He was not accused of crimes – we understand that – but what I’m telling you is that he was akin to a match-fixing investigation a few years ago in Brazil where they were giving out, I quote, ‘irregular red cards’. So that’s the facts of it. He was akin to that investigation.”
The US lost 4-1 to Belgium and exited the tournament. Fifa has defended Claus. It said in a statement this week: “Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.”
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
The White House's World Cup taskforce head defended the Trump administration's appeal to Fifa regarding a red card suspension for a US player before a knockout match. The White House cited a 2024 Brazilian senate investigation into referee assignment practices, characterizing the assigned referee as suspicious based on his connection to that investigation, despite the referee not being accused of wrongdoing. The taskforce head argued the red card involved improper use of video review on a contact foul. The US was subsequently eliminated after losing the match. Fifa has maintained the referee's professional standing.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House’s World Cup taskforce, has defended Donald Trump’s lobbying of Fifa to lift the suspension of US player Folarin Balogun for Monday’s game against Belgium.
The US president claimed that Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, who showed Balogun a red card in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was “a little bit suspect, if you check his past”. This was apparently a reference to a match-fixing investigation by Brazil’s senate in 2024 that examined how referees were assigned to games but did not accuse Claus of wrongdoing.
Giuliani told reporters at the Foreign Press Center in Washington DC: “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. Then when you add the fact that the process was misapplied by how VAR [video assistant referee] was initiated. For contact fouls, you cannot actually utilise the slow motion in the VAR, and they did that.
“So when you add those two facts together there, we found it was very, very highly suspicious. And look, the US government, whether it’s at the ballot box or whether it is on the playing field, we want fair play, right?”
Challenged by a reporter who said Claus had merely given testimony to the match-fixing investigation, and was not a target of it himself, Giuliani admitted: “He was not accused of crimes – we understand that – but what I’m telling you is that he was akin to a match-fixing investigation a few years ago in Brazil where they were giving out, I quote, ‘irregular red cards’. So that’s the facts of it. He was akin to that investigation.”
The US lost 4-1 to Belgium and exited the tournament. Fifa has defended Claus. It said in a statement this week: “Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.”
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House's World Cup taskforce, defended Donald Trump's lobbying of Fifa to lift the suspension of US player Folarin Balogun for a match against Belgium Brazil's senate conducted a 2024 investigation into how referees were assigned to games but did not accuse referee Raphael Claus of wrongdoing Trump claimed the referee was 'a little bit suspect' based on this investigation Giuliani argued the red card involved improper VAR usage on a contact foul Giuliani characterized the referee as 'akin to' a match-fixing investigation involving irregular red cards The US lost 4-1 to Belgium and exited the tournament Fifa stated the referee has consistently demonstrated professionalism and integrity throughout his career
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
- Andrew Giuliani, White House World Cup taskforce head, defended Trump's lobbying of Fifa to overturn a red card suspension for US player Folarin Balogun ahead of a Belgium match
- Trump cited a 2024 Brazilian senate investigation into referee assignment practices, claiming referee Raphael Claus was 'suspect', though Claus was not accused of wrongdoing in that investigation
- Giuliani argued the red card decision involved improper VAR use on a contact foul and linked Claus to an investigation about 'irregular red cards', though Claus was only tangentially connected to the probe
- The US lost 4-1 to Belgium and was eliminated from the tournament; Fifa stated Claus has demonstrated professionalism and integrity throughout his career