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The White House has defended President Donald Trump's call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, requesting the reversal of a penalty imposed on American forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup. While the move sparked outrage in the football world, Washington believes it "achieved the right outcome."
During a press conference, Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House World Cup task force, denied that anyone in the administration considered this intervention an unprecedented gesture in World Cup history that would anger other federations.
"This doesn't set a precedent for the U.S. to look into something that could be fraudulent management on the playing field," Giuliani explained. He highlighted past instances where U.S. authorities pressured investigations into irregularities in Major League Baseball (MLB) or the NBA.
When Brazilian referee Raphael Claus issued a red card to Balogun during the Round of 16 match between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina (which would have led to an automatic suspension for the quarter-final against Belgium), Giuliani himself, Trump, and Commerce Secretary Howard Luttner discussed the matter and decided the president should call Infantino.
The day after the call, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced it was overturning the American forward's suspension under Article 27 of the Disciplinary Code. This unusual action drew protests from various national federations and regional confederations, as well as renewed criticism regarding the close relationship between Infantino and Trump.
Giuliani stated on Tuesday that the U.S. takes "fair play" and "a level playing field" very seriously, assuring that the American president "takes this very seriously, whether it's on the playing field or at the ballot box."
"We want to ensure that Americans, especially given all the federal funds invested and years of preparation for this (World Cup) since 2018, are confident that at least the competition on the field was fair. And we did it: we managed to overturn that red card, which should never have been shown. We stand by our position on the actions taken," he added, before asserting that the White House believes "the right outcome was achieved," argued the son of Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and former Trump lawyer.
Giuliani insisted that referee Claus should not have used VAR slow-motion to review Balogun's tackle, which led to the red card. He also emphasized that the Brazilian referee raised "suspicions," as Trump had previously stated.
"It seemed very suspicious to us that there was a referee who had previously been investigated for match-fixing, specifically for improperly issuing red cards. What I'm saying is that his case was linked to a match-fixing investigation a few years ago in Brazil, in which, and I quote, 'improper red cards' were shown," Giuliani said of Claus, who in fact only participated as a witness in an investigation into irregularities in Brazilian football.
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