http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/201...cooper-mls-playoffs?xid=socialflow_twitter_si The key quotation, "The Disciplinary Committee was unanimous that Villa's kick deserved a red card, but it was not unanimous that it was of an egregious nature with the need to protect player safety." Or, to translate, "yeah he should be suspended, but come on, we're gonna make any excuse in the book not to suspend the probable MLS MVP."
Sounds like an artifact of a the system design more than the particular event. The system, for better or worse, for a play seen by the referee, requires more than just a determination that a send off was warranted. As interesting as the decision is the fact that they were sufficiently transparent to say that the panel unanimously thought one element was met but not the other.
Without a doubt. I'm sure the vague and open to interpretation "egregious nature with the need to protect player safety" is vague and open to interpretation on purpose...always nice to have some wiggle room when making big decisions. The league is certainty better off with Villa playing, not suspending him can be justified within the DisCo rules, everybody wins. And the next time an unnamed player get suspended for doing the exact same thing, well, we'll deal with that another time.
Some have brought up that Cooper himself was suspended by the DisCo earlier this year for kicking a player on the ground. The key difference being that Cooper's kick was subtle and not seen by the referee. Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk
Just laughable. They should have just said instead, "The fact that we appointed Silviu Petrescu to a playoff match should tell you enough that we don't want players suspended." Just ridiculous and embarassing.
It is two years in a row now that a referee who made an egregious error in the Law during the regular season got a playoff assignment. Severely hurts PRO's credibility IMO. Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I don't have a problem with no suspension to Villa. I'm bugged when they suspend for things like that in the season. The referee should have seen that, and there is no way I buy that all four missed it. They saw it, and just didn't think given the game that it should have been red. We can argue with that, but its weak-sauce to come back and suspend him for it. The DisCo should suspend for things off the ball, or sneaky elbows and cheapshots on corner-kicks, stuff that is designed to harm in situations where the four officials miss it. But suspending for things that the referees saw (or should have seen) that don't really cause any harm...well, that's an affront to the integrity of the game. And I get that every week the DisCo does do things that harm the integrity of the game, but the bar is higher for the playoffs, and that is good.
I'm not sure whether I'm for or against this non-suspension, but I want to point out something we need to think about. A referee was right behind the guys tussling with each other, he clearly saw the play, he waved his arms for both of them to get on with it, and we are somehow crying foul because the league didn't suspend the player? That's what FIFA calls re-refereeing the game, right? If the league's disciplinary arm is suspending players when referees see something clearly and decide it's not worthy of misconduct, then it's a breach of the FIFA codes, it's a break from their stated procedure, and it erodes the reason to even have a referee on the game. If this is a bad call, then dock the referee points & don't give him another playoff game. If this is a league-altering tackle that has to be punished, then I have no problem with them saying "MLS wants this out of the game, whether the ref saw it or not" (for example, if the crew clearly saw the de Jong tackle back in April, yet still decided to give a YC, I would hope that the DisCo stepped in to correct that violent play). However, there have been times this year when the referees clearly saw something and the DisCo still suspended the player, so it feels weird for them to all of a sudden play by their rules. All of a sudden they want to re-read & abide by the stated parameters of their committee? I'm going to go out on a limb. It feels like there was some funny business with this one. It feels like this was one of those moves by Agoos or the competition committee of "DisCo, are you sure?"..."guys, are you really sure?"..."guys, seriously, are you really, really 100% sure, and would stake your life on being wrong?"...."I got a 'no' from 1 of you, so that's all I need - discussion over, thanks"...."Hey everybody, no suspension, the committee wasn't unanimous. Villa plays. They just couldn't reach a consensus."
You have to wonder if Cooper had kicked Villa if things would be different. I believe they would have reached a different conclusion. And that's the problem with MLS. And always has been. The league has no integrity or credibility. The fact that they unanimously agree that this warranted a red card but that it didn't warrant the automatic suspension accompanying said red card is ludicrous.
@jarbitro , I'm not sure if you are today, but several years ago you definitely wouldn't have been in the minority here, for the exact reason that @Lucky Wilbury points out. From a refereeing perspective, Petrescu made (or in this case, did not make) the call. Complaining that MLS didn't suspend Villa is the last stop on the slippery slope that some people swore a decade ago didn't exist. We've gone from incidents out of the view of the referee team, to incidents that the referee team saw but not fully, to incidents that the referee is looking right at. Now, what I'm saying is from a referee perspective and a fan of the game overall. I side with @Lucky Wilbury that Petrescu should face the consequences if this is deemed an egregious error or substandard officiating by PRO and MLS. But Villa should not be suspended. From an MLS fan perspective, however, I get it. Because MLS has introduced this process and has explicit guidelines. And there are cases where the DisCo has acted to suspend players where the action didn't seem quite as violent or deliberate as this was. Given the system as it has operated, you'd expect a Villa suspension. In summation... Referee and fan of the sport, "Good, he shouldn't be suspended." Fan of MLS, "Are you kidding me? How is he not suspended?!"
I know Petrescu had the drop ball debacle this year, but what was the play last year and who was the referee?
Not nearly as egregious and right at the end of a game, but Fotis Bazakos and his AR last year called an offside directly off a short corner. Was extremely bizarre. Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk