The implementation of VAR came under the microscope once again at the 2026 World Cup after United States forward Folarin Balogun was shown a straight red card in his country’s Round of 32 encounter with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The forward had already scored for the USMNT, but the referee, Raphael Claus, was instructed to use the video replay system following a collision with Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic in the 63rd minute of the match.
On the face of it, the collision seemed insignificant, but the VAR official, Juan Ernesto Soto Arvalo, alerted the referee to have a look at the tackle for serious foul play.
On the replay, the defender’s ankle appeared to twist underneath the impact from Balogun’s tackle, prompting Claus to review his initial decision. Nevertheless, a former Premier League referee, Andy Davies, thought the sending off was unfair and claimed that the tackle was not malicious. ‘They are two men having a genuine crack at winning the ball, and that contact is just an ordinary football challenge – it was nothing of concern, ’ said Davies. ‘I didn’t think that was anything other than football.
And I thought that with what they are instructed not to do – overanalysis, playing the replays too slowly.
You use freeze frame and slow motion only for points of contact – not for the severity of it. It now goes without saying that VAR has once again been the talking point of the World Cup after what many consider an unfair red card.
