Expert: VAR misapplied protocols in Balogun World Cup red card
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- Folarin Balogun was shown a red card at 63 minutes via VAR review in the July 1 USMNT vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina World Cup match for serious foul play on defender Tarik Muharemovic.
- Andy Davies, a former Select Group referee with 12 elite seasons, judged the contact was 'purely accidental' from two players challenging for the ball in a normal football movement and 'not a red card offense.'
- VAR official Juan Ernesto Soto Arévalo recommended the on-field review after slow-motion replays showed Muharemovic's right ankle buckling under Balogun's contact.
- Davies criticized the VAR process, stating recommendations based on slow-motion and still replays are not aligned with protocols that restrict such footage to point-of-contact purposes only in red-card tackles.
- Referee Raphael Claus was expected to send Balogun off once presented with the slow-motion images at the pitchside monitor, per Davies's analysis.
- ESPN's headline confirms the consensus outcome: the '10-man U.S.' defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina despite playing a man down following the dismissal.
- The article frames this as part of a broader 104-game FIFA men's World Cup VAR review series examining whether matchday decisions are being made correctly under both VAR protocol and the laws of the game.
Why it matters: The U.S. won its round-of-32 match while down a man, but the Davies critique exposes a specific protocol breach — VAR cited slow-motion and still replays to justify its recommendation, which protocols reserve only for point-of-contact identification in red-card tackles. In a 104-game tournament where every VAR call is scrutinized, a former elite referee publicly flagging the process as misapplied puts pressure on FIFA's officiating consistency at the World Cup stage.
