Another year another chance for the MLS Disciplinary Committee too befuddle and amuse us with there decisions. Anything in the first weekend of games come up that deserves a look? Also a friendly reminder to try (within reason) to keep your fandom/allegiances in check when discussing issues, these threads can get very testy and can go off the rails easily if people make it a my team vs. your team discussion. Here is the MLS statement on when the DisCo is likely to get involved (thanks @GreatGonzo In determining when it will act, the Disciplinary Committee will use the following parameters: Where the referee sees an incident and issues a red card, the Committee may review the play for further disciplinary action, over and above the mandatory suspension and fine. The Committee will add suspensions and/or fines over and above the mandatory one game suspension for those offenses the Committee deems to be of an egregious or reckless nature, or where the Committee believes it must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game, including in particular but without limitation to contact above the shoulders through the dangerous use of elbows, forearms or fists. Where the referee does not see the incident (e.g., an off-the-ball offense) and therefore does not have the opportunity to act, the Committee will review any and all evidence and may act to discipline a player. Where the referee sees an incident and either does not act, or rules only a foul or only a yellow card (i.e., anything other than a red card), the Committee will not in general issue a suspension, unless: The play in question is, in the unanimous opinion of the Committee from all available video evidence, a clear and unequivocal red card; AND The play in question is of an egregious or reckless nature, such that the Committee must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game. When a player routinely and regularly commits dangerous offenses. When a player routinely and regularly commits dangerous offences, the Committee will: Inform both the player’s Club and the MLS Players Union that his behavior is being monitored. Consider supplemental discipline if disregard for player safety persists. Institute a “Probationary" period. A player can be cleared of the period with good behavior; consistent with the current good behavior incentive system for yellow cards. In obvious examples of simulation/embellishment. Disciplinary Committee must be unanimous in its view of the incident, and it must be obvious.
I really liked the Sarvas crunch on Javier Morales. Not even a Yellow. That will at least get a Red from Simon Borg on Monday.
How bout Eddie johnson punching Waylon Francis in the face right before halftime. No card. As a crew fan, I'll take the win and move on, but it was clearly a card offense.
You mean after the gruesome foul on Johnson a couple minutes before, or whatever took out Davy Arnaud right before that? The ref lost control of the game at the end of the 1st half. No need to get the DisCo involved unless they're going after EVERYONE involved in that last 5 minutes.
The Dallas Montreal Game started off with a pretty good elbow/forearm to the face that should get a look.
From my view it was definitely embellishment but there certainly was contact from behind. Iffy penalty but hardly a dive.
Seeing these incidents again (the first set of highlights), I could see the DisCo dinging a United player or two ...
Should probably have added a reminder for people to keep their allegiances at the door, if you can't see things objectively don't bother, it just makes this thread a mess.
Understood. I hope I didn't come across as a DCU homer when talking about that Johnson/Francis incident, since that whole 5 minute stretch was a cluster during the match.
Watching that makes me feel even worse about the game. Not only were we blown out, but we went full on classless during the beatdown. Absolutely shameful from my team.
No, didn't mean to direct it at anyone just a reminder because these threads have a tendency to get heated sometimes that's all.
The stomp was the worst of the bunch. The AR is standing right there. At least Neal got a yellow. I don't expect EJ to have any class, so nothing he does surprises me. And it didn't look like a punch, just a raised forearm.
Not to get all conspiracy theory crazy or anything, but part of me wonders if the DisCo is going to be more lenient this week because of the referee lockout and not wanting to make the replacements look bad. Knowing the DisCo, however, it'll be hard to tell if they're doing that or just simply being their usual incompetent selves. Hey @profiled, is it possible to put this in your opening post? For the DC game, EJ is likely to see a suspension. Even if it was just a raised forearm, it was pretty clearly violent conduct, and I don't think the referee saw it. To me, Neal's tackle should see a suspension but won't because the referee called it and gave a yellow. I think it fits under rule 3 - should have been a red card, and was really egregious / reckless, even though he didn't make direct contact with the tackle. I'm less sure about the stomp, mainly because I can't tell how much he's stomping on the ball compared to the player. I don't think the DisCo will act there, either. I think Armando should be suspended for his attempt to castrate Darren Mattocks, but again, since the referee gave yellow there, I don't think it'll happen. There was also an incident 10-15 seconds into the Dallas / Montreal game that could see some disciplinary action, but that too was called by the referee. Dallas player was late to challenging a Montreal player on a header, Dallas player turned his body and threw his shoulder up into the Montreal player, elbow extended out after the contact. Might just be something that looked worse than it actually was.
I was having a great day until I stumbled across this thread and was reminded that the Discipline Committee is a thing, and that it exists. Thanks BigSoccer.
Mods, feel free to delete this if it is getting too off topic. This notion that you can't even touch a person in the box is getting ridiculous. Soccer is a contact sport. Just because you enter a certain area of the pitch shouldn't change that. I don't get how you can watch what Friend did and say "oh Beltran shouldn't have done that". He shoulders up with him. Friend is flailing as he starts the jump. It's very obvious what he is doing. It's incredibly disrespectful to the spirit of the game. Embellishment shouldn't be viewed as something substantially below diving. You should be able to touch a player (legally) in the box. I don't get how the rules can be viewed this way one second, and then you have a corner and they go all the way to the other extreme.
A stomp is a straight red though not a yellow. From the MLS instant review thing suggest EJ's high forearm could be in retaliation from him being fouled earlier. If that's true then EJ should been sent off.
Even as a Crew fan, I thought that Eddie Johnson "elbow" was a bit overrated. To me, he looked like he was retaliating against Francis for an earlier challenge. But it looked like the forearm or shoulder or whatever it was didn't really get up all that high. It looked like it was chest height. He stepped in front of Francis after he played the ball away and got into his path and hit him in the chest. He was getting him back, but without benefit of a great replay, that just looked like a somewhat annoying foul more than something malicious. It probably should have been yellow, but I'm not losing any sleep over it.
I'm assuming you're just making general statements about how the feel the game should be played because none of what you said has any relevance to the post you quoted. My opinion on whether or not it was a foul and thus a PK is probably drastically different from yours, but it's irrelevant to this thread. The disco cannot suspend a player for falling down under contact. For those of you who didn't catch it, I'll leave it for you to make up your own minds: