Skip to main content

Oh No, Don't Give MLS Refs Ideas!

Referee Sends Off An Entire Team In Argentina
Violence in Argentinian football is not exactly an uncommon occurrence at the moment but last Saturday a situation erupted that was far from normal.

Days after clashes in the game between Godoy Cruz and San Martin, an encounter in Primera C ended with one team having all their players sent off, including substitutes.

Barracas Bolivar and General Lamadrid were the two teams involved, and when the incident occurred the home side were leading 3-0.

However, with 60 minutes gone the game had to be abandoned after what can only be described as an extraordinary series of events.

It started when three players and four staff from Lamadrid became involved in a dispute between the local fans of Bolivar.

The incident soon escalated and within moments all the players from the away side came over to defend their team-mates and staff, clashing with the supporters.

Plenty of punches were thrown and the violence had to be broken up by some of those present at the stadium.

In seeing what had happened, the referee decided to issue 18 red cards to the away team, sending off not just the eleven players on the pitch, but also the seven substitutes.

Not only did the decision destroy that encounter, but it means Lamadrid will have to play with a team full of reserve players in the next match.

That is pretty bad when a ref allows home fans to goad a team into such a fate.

Of course, now the precedent has been set....what should we do to the Fire??

Hmmm....

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Salt Lake Follies

More on the saga of Real Salt Lake : On the third day, it was risen. A bill emerged Thursday on Utah's Capitol Hill that could bring a Real Salt Lake stadium to Sandy and salvage Utah's two-year-old soccer franchise, which is being aggressively courted by investors in St. Louis. If the measure passes - it was crafted behind closed doors this week with the blessing of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and legislative leadership - it would snatch at least $20 million for the project out of Salt Lake County coffers, which critics allege could result in a countywide property-tax hike. The move to revive a stadium in Sandy spells the end of talk to relocate RSL to the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City or the former Geneva Steel site in central Utah County. Late Thursday, RSL released a statement saying the Geneva location, owned by Anderson Development, is "not a viable option for our team or the stadium project." "We are no longer ent...

Ticking Off My Friend From Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake seems to be holding on by the skin of it's teeth. Now you've got prominent folks out in Salt Lake bitch slapping Checketts in the press . I'm sure that is a BIG help. Then when you read things like the following : "I expect it to come together quickly or not at all," Valentine said, suggesting a deal could come within a week. All or nothing??? In a week? Sounds ominous. Or, Meanwhile, MLS sources say Checketts has received clearance from the league to explore relocating his two-year-old franchise and possibly selling it to "serious" investors in St. Louis. Salt Lake City's mayor referred to such a possible sale as reason to cancel Wednesday's council meeting. "Mr. Checketts may have sold the team by this afternoon," Anderson said. The mayor also didn't want to discuss soccer in public, saying the news media could "screw things up for us." That's right. It would be the media's fault. So Re...

Early Thoughts on City 2025

There are few things harder to keep track of than an MLS side in their off-season, at least for me. Despite the fact it takes place roughly during the time the MLB Hot Stove season is in full swing, it is nowhere near as easy to follow along with as baseball. Part of it is how disconnected MLS is with the international soccer calendar. St. Louis City SC is still digesting the moves it made last summer even though those players have already played important games for the club. It is all weird and disjointed, and I always feel like I am playing catch-up. Happily, the moves made in the off-season this year were not numerous.  German Timo Baumgartl comes over from Europe as an option at center back, which is good because that was a position that was a little rocky for City last season. Given his own troubles over the last few seasons (cancer and uneven play in the aftermath of that), a spell with City can give Baumgartl a chance to have a re-set. Given his pedigree and the fact City si...