All Eyes on the Refs for Belgium vs. U.S. After Balogun Fiasco

All eyes are now on the referees set to officiate the Round of 16 World Cup match between Team USA and Team Belgium on Monday following the red card controversy involving USMNT star striker Folarin Balogun.

Balogun exited last week’s Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina after receiving a questionable red card when he accidentally stepped on the right ankle of BIA defender Tarik Muharemovic. Even though the ref did not even issue a yellow card before VAR intervened and even though no action of intent had been presented, Balogun received a red card nonetheless, which meant a full-game suspension for the upcoming Round of 16 match against Belgium. As the days passed, it seemed as if there would be no repeal of the decision until FIFA confirmed on Sunday that Balogun’s suspension would be under probation.

As Breitbart News reported last week, Rafael Claus, the Brazilian referee who issued the questionable red card against Balogun, had been previously “accused of match fixing in his native country in February 2023.”

In what will no doubt seem even more ominous to American fans, Claus was specifically accused of issuing “irregular red cards.” Claus was refereeing in Brazil’s first division. The accusations were made by the owner of a Brazilian club, who obtained recordings of another official who claimed that other officials were taking bribes. The case was taken seriously, and Claus was called to testify with his VAR. However, the Brazilian Football Confederation found no evidence that Claus had taken bribes or engaged in any match fixing.

According to USA Today, referee Adham Makhadmeh of Jordan will be in the hot seat for Monday night’s game and will “take charge of the match between the U.S. and Belgium, assisted by his countrymen Mohammad Al-Kalaf and Ahmad Al-Roalle.”

“This will be the fourth game of this World Cup for Makhadmeh, who has also taken charge of group-stage matches between Spain and Cape Verde, as well as New Zealand and Belgium. He also officiated England’s win over DR Congo in the round of 32,” it added.