Fox Sports rules analyst Mark Clattenburg: Folarin Balogun red card ‘shouldn’t have been a VAR intervention’

A delightful win for the USMNT on Wednesday night was overshadowed by a questionable red card on striker Folarin Balogun, immediately casting concern over the national team’s next match on Monday as Balogun serves a suspension.

The second-half booking came after Balogun became tangled up with a Bosnian defender. In real time, the play did not appear malicious, but after the officials reviewed it, Balogun was issued a red card.

Ultimately, the USMNT scored a decisive second goal while shorthanded, but the Balogun foul became the story of the game. In a postgame appearance on Fox Sports’ digital coverage, rules analyst Mark Clattenburg argued the challenge didn’t meet the normal speed, force, and malice criteria for a red card, and said officials instead leaned on the separate “endangers the safety of the opponent” clause within VAR’s framework to justify the call.

“When I watched this in real speed, I didn’t think it was much. I thought it was just the coming-together of two players,” Clattenburg said. “The problem you’ve got is, to reach the criteria for a red card, it has to be some speed, there has to be some force, and there has to be some malice. This lacked that. But what it does have, which is what the element of the VAR is hiding behind, is it endangers the safety of the opponent.”

Former FIFA Referee & FOX Sports Rules Analyst, Mark Clattenburg, gives his thoughts on the Balogun red card.@MelissaMOrtiz | @SachaKljestan | @bguzan | @MauriceEdu pic.twitter.com/D7UKGxQmCk

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Clattenburg added that the officials were overly reactive to the still shots of Balogun’s foot on the Bosnian player’s ankle rather than the true flow of the play in real time. The Fox Sports rules analyst not only disagreed with the call, but said it should not have ever gone to VAR review in the first place.

“What they’ve done is they’ve looked at the consequence of the challenge. However, in my opinion, this didn’t endanger the safety of the opponent,” he said. “Balogun doesn’t even look for the foul. It’s one of them where it happens in a split second … it was an accidental challenge. And for me, this didn’t reach the criteria of a red card, and it shouldn’t have been a VAR intervention.”

Coming from a former top FIFA and Premier League referee with no rooting interest in the USMNT, Clattenburg’s comments are about as strong as you could imagine regarding the seeming mistake on the Balogun call.