Why USMNT may have legitimate complaint about Folarin Balogun red card

Without question, the biggest talking point on American sports radio stations following the United States men's national team's 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Wednesday's round-of-32 FIFA World Cup showdown was related to the red card shown to forward Folarin Balogun halfway through the match's second half.

As Adam Crafton of The Athletic explained, on-the-pitch referee Raphael Claus of Brazil showed Balogun the straight red for stepping on the leg of Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic after Claus saw a slowed-down replay of the incident during a review. Crafton also suggested that International Football Association Board protocols should have prevented the use of slow-motion replays regarding this moment of play. 

Was VAR used correctly in determining Folarin Balogun red card?

According to Crafton, IFAB guidelines say: 

"The [video assistant referee] can 'check' the footage in normal speed and/or in slow motion but, in general, slow motion replays should only be used for facts, e.g. position of offence/player, point of contact for physical offences and handball, ball out of play (including goal/no goal); normal speed should be used for the 'intensity' of an offence or to decide if it was a handball offence."

United States fans, players and manager Mauricio Pochettino weren't the only noteworthy members of the football community left fuming over the Balogun red card. As Mirjam Swanson of the Los Angeles Times mentioned, Premier League and France legend Thierry Henry said during the Fox postgame show that governing institutions need "to adopt some type of common sense" when reviewing such incidents. 

"[Balogun] never went to hurt nobody," Henry continued. "He went to get the ball, and where do you land after? You have to land somewhere."